Problem
Decolonizing the Archive Workshop
What are the colonial histories of archives and archival practices? How do they affect historical scholarship today and how can archives be decolonized? Explore these questions by examining the structure of Library and Archives Canada [LAC], analysing a source from their indigenous documentary heritage collections and reflecting on what a de-colonial archive would look like.
A. Read Krista Mccracken, "Challenging Colonial Spaces: Reconciliation and Decolonizing Work in Canadian Archives" Canadian Historical Review, 100: 2, June 2019, 182-201. (W-Lib)
B. Briefly research the history of LAC. When, where and why was it created?
C. Examine LAC's website. How does the organization of the website interface and the groupings of the collections reflect colonial frameworks and hierarchies?
D. What did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ask LAC and other archives to do, as a part of reconciliation with Canada's indigenous peoples and histories?
E. How is LAC's indigenous documentary heritage initiative a response to this?