Category Archives: TLAM 2009

2009 TALM National Conference (Portland, OR… October 19-22)

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We had an amazing time in Portland, Oregon at the 2009 Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums National Conference!  This conference was life changing.  We met so many wonderful people from across the US, Canada, and even New Zealand, doing phenomenal things for their communities.  While yes it was a conference, it was so much more than that!  It really is a big community of a wide variety people, skills, knowledge, interests, and experiences coming together to share, learn, network, re-connect, and enjoy one another.   We definitely recommend it to others and we look forward to participating in the future gatherings!

While at the conference we not only networked and met with lots of great people during down time and throughout the conference events, but also attended and participated in various library, archive, and museum sessions and workshops.   Additionally we presented one of the 90-minute sessions for the conference.   Our session was about relationship building between library information schools and tribal cultural institutions and communities.   We  discussed this through the lens of our pilot TLAM course that we co-developed and implemented for the 2009 Spring semester.  We followed the presentation with an audience group discussion of how we can all collaborate, stay in touch, and help to inspire other LIS schools and communities to come together in these mutually beneficial relationships and engage in these discussions about Indigenous information issues.  We also explored ways we can revise the TLAM course for the upcoming semester as well as plan for TLAM’s sustainability into the future.

TLAMers presenting at the TALM conference in Portland. Photo taken by Kelly Webster. Left to right: Christina C., Christina J., Omar, and Cat.

During and after our presentation’s discussion with audience members (students, professors, and practitioners), it was collaboratively agreed that a Facebook Fan Page is in order for all those who are interested in tribal libraries, archives, and museums…to engage everyone in collective discussions, do networking in your region, across the country, and around the world with interested students, practitioners, professors, community members, and anyone else.   The presence of a TLAM Facebook Fan Page is in hopes not only to connect us, but also that this will help inspire and encourage/ease future collaborations, idea sharing, learning, and a place for event & conference announcements, as well as a place to post new literature links and press releases.
Everyone, please contribute and help build the fan page, as well as spread the word and invite others who you think should join!  You can find the Facebook Fan Page by searching under “Tribal Libraries, Archives, & Museums!” on Facebook.

2009 Tribal Archives, Libraries, and MuseumsTo check out the 2009 TALM conference website and find out more about the conference, go to: www.tribalconference.org

For a direct link to the 2009 TALM conference program schedule and information on sessions and events, as well as contact and other information on those who participated, presented, and/or received awards, go to:  http://www.tribalconference.org/conf09/pdf/Final_Program.pdf

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WLA 2009 Special Service Award for the Red Cliff Project

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On October 22, 2009, the Wisconsin Library Association Awards Banquet recognizes the Red Cliff Library Project by awarding a 2009 Special Service Award to the three SLIS students who conducted the project.  The project with Red Cliff helped to support and encourage the creation of TLAM at the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies. 

The following excerpt is from  http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/awards/awards.htm

redcliffstudents 2009WLA SSAward

Special Service Award

Chelsea Couillard, Christina Johnson and Catherine Phan share the Special Service Award for their Community Needs Assessment for the Red Cliff Tribal Library, conducted when all three were students at the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies. In the summer of 2007, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Bayfield County began to discuss closing the tribal library. The library was out of compliance with statutory requirements for system membership, usage was declining and little money was available from the tribal budget for the library.

The students were awarded a Kaufmann Entrepreneurship Community Internship grant for the summer and fall 2008-09 in order to conduct the needs assessment, under faculty supervision and staff cooperation, and in partnership with the Red Cliff Tribe. The students made monthly visits to the Red Cliff Reservation between June and November 2008, for community discussion and self-education. They collaborated with Joe Bresette, Red Cliff Tribal Operations Director; Jim Trojanowski, Northern Waters Library Service Director; Tim Kane, UW Extension Educator; and Janice Rice, UW-Madison librarian and then president of the American Indian Library Association.

Trojanowski, who nominated the group for the WLA Special Service award, reports that the Red Cliff Tribe is working hard to reopen the library. He states that though meeting statutory requirements for system membership is likely to remain a challenge for the library, “the fact that any library service will be available is a remarkable achievement that is unlikely to have occurred without the work of Christina, Catherine and Chelsea.”

The final report, Mazina’igan Wakai’igan: Red Cliff Tribal Library was released in December 2008. Currently, Coulliard is employed in Children’s Services at Baraboo Public Library; Johnson is the librarian in the American Indian Studies Library at UW-Madison; Phan is at MERIT, the School of Education Library at UW-Madison.

From left to right: Christina Johnson, Catherine Phan, and Chelsea Couillard–and the UW motor pool vehicle they drove one of many trips to Red Cliff.  Photo courtesy of UW-Madison SLIS.

 

 

TLAM article from the Potawatomi Traveling Times

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Winda Collins (Managing Editor, Potawatomi Traveling Times) shared with us a copy of the article that was in the April 1, 2009 edition of the Potawatomi Traveling Times (FCP’s newspaper) from our TLAM visit to the FCP Museum/Library back in March…   Here’s the link to the page the article is on:  FCP TLAM article 2009.   Or read below (minus photo).

Thank you Winda, and thank you Kim Wensaut (FCP Librarian) for a wonderful write up!   (Also thank you to the photographer from the paper).

And thank you again to Kim Wensaut and Mike Alloway, Sr. for being so generous in sharing your time, experience, expertise, and thoughts with us.   We enjoyed  our time together and hope to visit again soon!  And what a gem your facility is!  We look forward to future collaboration opportunities!

Iwgwien!

 

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POTAWATOMI TRAVELING TIMES • April 1, 2009

Community, Page 4

UW Library Students Visit FCP Museum/Library 
 
submitted by Kim Wensaut, FCP Librarian 
     Graduate students from the University of Wisconsin’s School of Library and Information Studies made the trek to Forest County on Friday, March 13, to visit the FCP Cultural Center, Library and Museum.  The students are currently working with the Red Cliff band to re-open and develop that tribe’s library facility and were looking for ideas and networking from the FCP facility.  They wanted to know how the museum and the library were developed and how it is currently operates.  In addition, the group of nine students are working on developing a UW course on tribal knowledge institutions.
     The students are part of an independent study course and are conducting visits to other tribal museums/libraries throughout this semester.  Part of their goal is to facilitate networking opportunities between tribal institutions and the university.  The students were given a tour of the library, museum and archives.

Loriene Roy visits

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Loriene Roy the past president of the ALA and reowned Native American librarian, author, and professor came to visit and present to the SLIS community. Her presentation in the SLIS commons was an explanation of her past experiences in the ALA, IFLA, and many other oraganizations. She shared with us her understanding, knowledge and sense of humor concerning working with Native Americans as well as with indigenous communities all over the world.
In our personal class discussion with Loriene she conveyed to us more stories concerning indigenous librarianship around the world, but especially in New Zealand. This discussion was a fantastic opportunity for the class to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of Loriene’s wealth of insight and experience.
To find out about all that Loriene is working on, please visit her website:

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~loriene/

Janice Rice presents Loriene Roy with a jingle.

Janice Rice presents Loriene Roy with a jingle at her talk at SLIS.

 

 

Past ALA President Loriene Roy addresses the audience gathered in the SLIS Commons for her address.

Past ALA President Loriene Roy addresses the audience gathered in the SLIS Commons for her address.

Archives

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On April 17th we had a meeting discussing the archives portion of our class investigation. Amy Cooper Cary, UW-Milwaukee archivist, Mark Theil Marquette University archivist and Troy Reeves Oral History and Archives at the WI Historical Society all joined us for brunch followed by a 3+ hour discussion.

Amy began the discussion and told us about her background working with the Dine (Navajo) people in Arizona, where she started an archiving project by basically sorting out a closet of archival materials. Amy also shared with us statistics concerning the number of archivists total in the US. There are about 10,000 archivists in the US and only 1.9% identify as Native American. We also discussed the difficulties of Native Americans becoming archivists, relating to history and culture. However, it was emphasized the importance of Native Americans being responsible for sensitive artifacts and issues that arise in the archival process.

After Amy’s discussion Mark began with his background and credentials. He noted that he was a non-indian adopted by the Ho-Chunk people and has worked with Native Americans professionally for many years. In 1973 he worked on the Pine Ridge Reservation and was working there during Wounded Knee. Mark discussed the difficulties of gathering archives as there must be trust gained between archivist/institutions and tribes/individuals. There are still many people who have archives and artifacts in personal collections that might benefit from being in a controlled environment. Also there are still issues surrounding non-natives possessing artifacts that were unlawfully attained.

Finally, Troy Reeves from the Oral History Program at the Historical Society told us his experience with recording oral histories. Although he has not yet worked with Native American communities he is looking forward to extending the oral history program to include more accounts from Native Americans. He thinks to break down the barriers that may exist between interviewer and interviewee tribes could be trained to record their own oral histories, thus enhancing the authenticity of the recordings.

This lively presentation and discussion following was an excellent opportunity for the class to understand more in depth the issues surrounding archiving Native American issues and oral histories.

 

Amy Cooper Cary, Mark Thiel and Troy Reeves were the guests for Archives Day. Amy is Archival Studies Program Coordinator at UW-Milwaukee. Mark is an archivist with Marquette University. Troy is head of the Oral History Program at UW-Madison.

Amy Cooper Cary, Mark Thiel and Troy Reeves were the guests for Archives Day. Amy is Archival Studies Program Coordinator at UW-Milwaukee. Mark is an archivist with Marquette University. Troy is head of the Oral History Program at UW-Madison.

Bad River/Red Cliff Day Three

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TLAM students Omar Poler and Christina Johnson help clean up Red Cliff Library on April 4, 2009.

Quick breakfast at Super 8 on Saturday morning after a night out of visiting with Cat’s and Christina J’s friends, respectively. Met Jim and Renee at the library shortly after 9 and spent four-plus hours cleaning, sorting and reshelving. Sue also came for a while to connect. Cat and Gabe took measurements and drew a floor plan to take back to Madison for us to draw up some possible new layout plans for the library. Gabe and Christina C. sorted and cleaned some of the supply closets in the children’s area, which contained art supplies, puzzles, games as well as computers and other electronic equipment and disks. We also discovered photographs from an apparent art installation and old local postcards of Red Cliff. Christina J. went out into the community to round up cardboard boxes for books we gathered for donations and for the ease of moving and sorting books within the library. Tyler cleared paperbacks and sorted through them. Christina J. reshelved and also sorted books and began to organized the circ desk area. Omar and Christina J. swept and mopped, and along with Gabe’s help cleaned several of the rugs and floormats. Tyler, Gabe, Omar, and Jim removed some of the bookcases from the library to open up the space more, plus a few of the bookcases were moldy. Omar helped with shelf work and along with Cat also identified books for possible weeding. We concluded the day by loading the van with books and miscellaneous materials to be donated and dropped them off at ABC in Washburn after we ate lunch at Maggie’s in Bayfield on our way back to Madison.

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Bad River/Red Cliff Day One and Two

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Day one of the Bad River/Red Cliff trip started off with about 6 hour drive to the Bad River reservation. We arrived in the early afternoon and went straight to the library. There we met with Norma Soulier and Phillip ‘Skip” Hefner. They told us the ins and outs of the library, where the money comes form, how they handle acquistions, and the system they have devised to catalog the many resources they possess. The discussion was lively, as the conservation covered everything from education to growing up on the reservation. Our hosts were most generous with their time and we gained much from their accounts of the library and information services in the region.

After, a few hours in the library we checked into our rooms at the casino and headed out for a pizza dinner. The first day concluded with a few class memebers trying their luck with the slot machines, Gabe and Christian (visiting architect), took home about 50$ a piece, so it was a good end to an already productive day.

The next day we headed up to Red Cliff to meet with the tribal council in the morning. The meeting concerned the library and the next steps that Red Cliff would like to take in the implementation of a new library. The council members in attendance were: Larry Balber, Rose Gurnoe-Soulie, Charlie Bresette, Joanne Peterson and Randy Hella. Christian Schaller, (architect  from Chicago who is generously donating his time to assist Red Cliff) showed his designs for the library and everyone seemed enthusiastic about the project. At this point, they are still deciding the right avenues to pursue for funding, and exactly how/what the library should be. It seems there was a general consensus that the structure itself should function as a sort of community center also, similar to the library, museum, and archive of the Potowatomi. All and all the meeting was a great opportunity for the tribal council to meet all of the students (and vice versa) and also a chance for everyone to share ideas.

After the meeting we had lunch with a few library board memebers and then followed by a meeting with the entire board. The members present for that meeting were, Larry Balber, Sue DePerry, Rene Lushko, Mary Peterson, Sarah Quale, Linda Lamoreaux, Jim Pete and Roberta Menger. This meeting also acted to solidify the cooperation between Red Cliff and the UW as well as develop future plans for the library.

Here are a couple of photos from the meeting with Tribal Council members and others.

Larry Balber, Christian Schaller and Professor Sunny Kim from SLIS.

Larry Balber, Christian Schaller and Professor Sunny Kim from SLIS.

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TLAM class member Tyler Kennedy, Red Cliff Police Chief and Council member Charlie Bresette and Tribal Planner Randy Hella talk at a break during a meeting about the proposed new library.

Bad River/Red Cliff Trip Day One

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Louise Robbins, center, introduces architect Christian Schaller, left, to the TLAM class as we get ready to embark on Thursday, April 2.

Louise Robbins, center, introduces architect Christian Schaller, left, to the TLAM class as we get ready to embark on Thursday, April 2.

Norma Soulier has been the librarian at the Bad River tribal library for more than 20 years.

Norma Soulier has been the librarian at the Bad River tribal library for more than 20 years.

Skip told of how returning library visitors claim the ceiling has been lowered (as they've grown). The photos are reproductions from the high school yearbook.

Skip told of how returning library visitors claim the ceiling has been lowered (as they've grown). The photos are reproductions from the high school yearbook.

The TLAM class gathers after meeting with Norma and Skip.

The TLAM class gathers after meeting with Norma and Skip.

Outside class

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A preview of the PBS American Experience “We Shall Remain” series was shown Tuesday, March 31, at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Episode 5, “Wounded Knee,” which will be broadcast May 11, was shown. The plan was to show most but not all of it. As Patty Loew began the discussion, however, audience members wanted to know more about the outcome of the events at Pine Ridge Reservation 1973. A gentleman who was at Wounded Knee was in the audience, and he was able to answer questions. Patty also decided to take a vote, and the audience voted to see the entire episode. Afterward, audience members discussed the events of Wounded Knee and spoke of their own experiences of boarding schools (also addressed in this episode). I wish I had a transcript of the remarks. They were quite moving. If there are more opportunities to watch these episodes in a group setting, I urge class members and others to do so.
For more on the series: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain

Wednesday night assistant professor of art Tom Jones and College Library outreach librarian Janice Rice joined author Steven Hoelscher at the Chazen Museum for a panel discussion following Hoelscher’s lecture on his book “Picturing Indians.” Tom has photos included in the book, and Janice assisted with the book.

The two events were reminders of the connections this class has enabled.

Nancy Mithlo and Tom Jones 3/27/09 Tribal Museums

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This week we had speakers Nancy Mithlo and Tom Jones discuss their experiences and professional work with museums. Nancy’s background is in anthropology and she has studied and worked all over the country. She spoke about Native American art and museums in relation to education and awareness. She described to us her experiences with the National Museum of the American Indian, her impressions and the controversy surrounding

Nancy Mithlo, a professor with the American Indian Studies program and Art History Department at UW-Madison.

Nancy Mithlo, a professor with the American Indian Studies program and Art History Department at UW-Madison.

the museum. Also, she spoke of Native American imagery and we viewed a short film by Erica Lord entitled “Redman” that depicts the brutality of racism through rather simple, but stark imagery and dialouge. Nancy also mentioned her new book Our Indian Princess which discusses imagery as communication, issues surrounding causation of racial stereotypes, and how imagery can form the framework for discussion of Native American issues. She gave the names of  many artists, intellectuals, books and concpets- below are some links to topics mentioned in the lecture and during lunch following the talk.

Links
Institute of American Indian Arts

The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations

Andrea Smith, author of Conquest

Fred Wilson, artist

Kevin Grover apology from the BIA

excerpt from “Box of Treasures” short film made by the Kwakiut’l people of Alert Bay, British Columbia

Amy Lonetree, Assistant Professor of American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Poeh Center

Roxanne Swentzell, artist

Native American Studies Association

Aboriginal Curatorial Collective

The Forward Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Grants Applicants, contact Alison Freese

more information about the Native American Video Tape Collection, 1976-Pres.

Tom showed us his work and discussed his various projects, (link above). He also shared with us his experience as an artist featured in the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. Two collections that he shared

Tom Jones, professor in the Art Department at UW-Madison.

Tom Jones, professor in the Art Department at UW-Madison.

with us were “Encountering Cultures” and “‘Native’ Commondity.” These two collections are an example of the range of Tom’s interest and the depth of his work.

This was an inspiring presentation by both Nancy and Tom that stimulated much thought and discussion within the group. Their expertise and willingness to share experience and knowledge was greatly appreciated.