Let’s Talk about a Manitoba First Nations Archives

 MFNERC’s Research & Development Program (RDP) has set as its goal the creation of a Manitoba First Nations Archives, to be located at our Winnipeg office. Today in Manitoba there is no recognized central repository, controlled by First Nations, that is acknowledged as a First Nations Archival Institution. There are a number of Aboriginal/First Nation Cultural Centres situated throughout the province, as well as the Manitoba Provincial Archives and Manitoba’s Universities, which have collections containing First Nation archival content. However, there is no single centralized location in the Province that exclusively focuses on First Nation archival material, that can be easily accessed by the public domain for education and training purposes.

Our RDP is in the process of researching and creating the necessary infrastructure and management policies to undertake such an ambitious plan. MFNERC’s RDP Specialists, along with Aboriginal Languages Initiative (ALI), will be conducting a workshop at the annual “Lighting the Fire” Education Conference, May 8-10, 2013. The workshop “Creating a Manitoba First Nations Archives: A Conceptual Model” will highlight some of the issues that need to be addressed in order to create such an institution. It will also provide a forum for First Nation community members to share their input into the development of the project. Some of the discussion themes will be: Establishing Protocols with Provincial and University Archives, Building Relations with Aboriginal/First Nation Cultural Centres, Accessibility and Use, Intellectual Property Issues and Infrastructure.

Additionally, our RDP Specialists will be presenting a discussion paper at the annual Association of Canadian Archivist conference scheduled for June 2013 at the Delta Winnipeg.