Marisa Duarte

TLAM, and the SLIS department at UW-Madison, had the pleasure of hosting a doctoral candidate from another UW (Washington), Marisa Duarte on April 18, 2013. Marisa’s work at the University of Washington’s Information School analyzes “the impacts of information systems in Indigenous and border communities…[focusing] on the impacts of tribal broadband Internet infrastructures.” She gave a presentation on her work earlier in the day and then met with our class to field questions and to generally pontificate on various issues involving information and Indian Country.

Though Marisa’s research is pointed, her interests (and knowledge) stray far from what is stated above. I would like to focus this post on some of the challenges that Marisa outlined facing her work, those who came before her, and those who will follow in her steps. Many of the issues that she spoke of can be seen clearly in many of the posts from earlier in this semester—which simply highlights the widespread nature of the problems.

 The Importance of Trailblazers

Just a few days before Marisa’s visit, Major League Baseball celebrated its annual Jackie Robinson Day. That day is meant to shed light on the path that Mr. Robinson had to create for himself on his journey to Ebbets Field. A similar role, Marisa claims, was played by a first wave of Indigenous LIS professionals. Her work would not be possible without the efforts of countless others such as Madison’s own Janice Rice and others whose work has become very familiar to those of us in TLAM: Loriene Roy, Lotsee Patterson, and Cheryl Metoyer.

 Indigenous Knowledge in Academia

As future librarians, we have all been reading how the differences between the knowledge systems most of us came of age in differ from that of Native peoples. We have not had a reason to transpose those readings onto academia, but Marisa discussed those difficulties. Citing the breakthroughs of the women above, she said there is still a long way to go before Indigenous knowledge systems will be recognized in academia. “In normal conversation in academia,” she said, “You can walk around the room and shake hands with people and figure out your research commonalities by stating which discourses your work falls under. However, in Native scholarship, those discourses don’t exist—or at least they are not recognized.

Marisa gave an example of how those working within Indigenous knowledge systems use their tribal affiliation in the way a Western scholar might “use” their research foundations to identify the epistemologies of their work.

Though this is great in their relatively small circles, it is difficult to legitimate this form of research within traditional academy. But things are changing. Marisa cited her colleagues and her mentors as those who will be able to bridge the gap between academia and Indigenous knowledge.

To close this blog, I thought I would share one anecdote that Marisa told almost in passing. When asked about funding and grants for research in Native communities, she said that there is a problem between reality and destruction narratives. Grants, she said, are often given to the proposal that claims that a practice, an institution, or a way of life will be destroyed if the money is not awarded. This goes against the vibrancy of Native cultures that are experienced on the ground and perpetuates a narrative of constant struggle to those outside of Indian country. Though there are many struggles facing Native communities, it is imperative that we not forget the many vibrant, joyful, and exciting things that are happening there as well.

-Dylan Mohr

However, focus on all of these groups has remained bounded by the geographic borders of North America, or more accurately to those tribes that live both inside, and to a considerable degree outside, of the territory of the United States. This week’s latest discussion has instead encouraged our class to broaden its notion of what constitutes “indigenous.”

Our class, looking beyond the narrative of the American Indian, found parallels with other indigenous groups through the world: the Sami in Northern Scandinavia, the First Nations peoples of Canada, the Aboriginal tribes of Australia, and the Maori of New Zealand. Similarities discussed included the brutal colonial methods utilized by Europeans in their desire for more land and precious commodities visited upon all of these peoples. In addition, each indigenous group has suffered various levels of poverty and poor health, and has been denied access to education. Many of these problems still persist, alongside rampant racism that is a vestige of centuries’ old colonialism.

All is not as dire as it seems, though. Some similarities are cause for hope for indigenous peoples. For instance, paralleling the rise of cultural revivalism in the US, throughout the 1960s and 1970s an era of language revitalization emerged among native groups worldwide. The Maori in New Zealand, as well as Australian aboriginals, have been successful in implementing library programs that stress cultural sensitivity and knowledge of native culture. This is not limited strictly to the library realm either, as many indigenous peoples have been successful in reclaiming cultural heritage objects previously held in archives and museums.

This discussion of international indigenous lifeways, culture, and their association with the work of native and non-native professionals in libraries, archives, and museums does much to encourage collaborative work. It would result in work that embraces the multiplicity of languages and perspectives within our world. The groups designated as indigenous, native, aboriginal, or first peoples are not homogenous. They are separated from each other and from us in geographic, linguistic, and ethnic terms. They are not the vanishing races they were perceived to be in past centuries. They may be labeled as minorities, but that does not imply that they will quietly fade into the background. What we have learned in this class is that it is our responsibility to work collaboratively with native peoples to better their knowledge of and access to library and archival materials. Further, it is our duty as librarians and archivists to educate ourselves and other non-Native peoples about the rich cultures and histories of indigenous communities.

-Nathan Sowry

This week we explored more in depth different cultural institutions and their relationships with native people’s.  One of great interest to my was the chapter in Amy Lonetree’s Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums, “The Ziibiwing Center for Anishinabe culture and lifeways: Decolonization, truth telling, and addressing historical unresolved grief.” I think this chapter really helped me to make many connections among what we have learned each different week in this class.  I really appreciated the different perspective from a different state and indigenous group we hadn’t yet talked about in class. The article discussed how information is organized and what cultural institutions can do to make their collections more applicable and better accessible for Native people. One of the biggest things that I carried away from this part of the chapter was adding information in not only English but the Native languages of the people. This makes the information easier to access and understand for the Native people and also helps non-Native’s learn more about the culture of the land.

As we got into small groups to discuss the articles is was evident that we were all in awe of what the Ziibiwing Center is able to do for the Anishinabe people in Michigan. Because of our previous field trip to the WIsconsin Historical Museum we were able to make comparisons between the missions statements of both of these institutions. While the Wisconsin Historical Museum is a state-wide institution that has a mission statement that encompasses more than just Native Culture, the Ziibiwing Center focuses solely on the mission of providing enriching culturally information of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and other Great Lakes Anishinabe. Their mission statement is much more specific and related to the native peoples of their area.  For more information of the Ziibiwing Center here is their link: http://www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing/

One of my favorite parts of the TLAM class is the different perspectives we get in the assigned articles as well as the background of my classmates.  We have a diverse group of students studying archives, academic libraries, special libraries, public libraries, and youth services. This class period was interesting because of the different cultural institutions we studied and because of what we were able to gather in our small groups and hearing everyone else’s opinions of the missions of the cultural institutions we studied.  Even though museums are not my strongest area I was able to gather a lot of interesting points and take away a lot from what my classmates had to contribute to the class discussion.

- Meg Schiebel

This week, the TLAM-ers went to the Wisconsin Historical Museum to explore issues relating to Native American artifacts in museums.  Specifically, Jennifer Kolb, the Museum Director of the Wisconsin Historical Museum, gave a presentation and spoke of her experiences with the repatriation.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a federal law passed in 1990 with the purpose of providing a framework and process for museums and federal agencies to return specified Native American cultural artifacts–human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony– back to tribes and tribal lineages.

The Wisconsin Historical Museum has been working on repatriation efforts in compliance with NAGPRA for over twenty years, and in the course of these efforts, have identified over 7,000 objects, 1 million archaeological objects, and 833 individual within state collections that are all eligible for NAGPRA.  So far, the museum has returned almost 200 individuals to tribal lineages.

Jennifer Kolb has described the process of NAGPRA repatriation as an exercise in trust, relationship building, firm communication, and respect to tribal nations.  Although the process of repatriating cultural objects can take years of negotiations and mountains of paperwork, the staff at the Wisconsin Historical Museum have expressed how meaningful and important the work of NAGPRA is to connecting people with their culture and history.

In addition to the honest talk about the NAGPRA process, the TLAM-ers had the opportunity to explore the exhibit about Native Americans.  Part of the class time was spent thinking about ways in which the Wisconsin Historical Museum could revamp their exhibit to portray Native Americans in a modern light.  With all the wonderful efforts going on in Wisconsin to revitalize Native languages, create culturally sensitive curriculum with Wisconsin school children, and incorporate a history of the state that represents its first inhabitants, it seems that the museum will soon be following suite.  

A Jingle Dress at the People of the Woodlands Exhibit

In spite of all the budget cuts around the state, the Wisconsin Historical Museum isn’t putting this project on the back-burner.  Soon, the Native American exhibit will feature sections about Native American artists and Native American languages around the state.  This will help bring native American culture out of the history books and into the forefront of people’s minds, establishing the modern identity of Native Americans that is often neglected in cultural institutions.

TLAM-ers learning about upcoming changes to the People of the Woodlands Exhibit.

I was very proud to witness firsthand what a state institution can accomplish, in spite of massive budgetcuts, understaffing, and lack of support.  The Wisconsin Historical Museum has gone to great lengths to create responsible relationships with Native Americans living in this state, and to ensure that cultural heritage is respected and preserved.

Interested in NAGPRA? Or museums’ relationships with Native Americans?  Give these readings a try.

Bowechop, J. & Erikson, P. (2005). Forging indigenous methodologies on cape flattery: The makah museum as a center of collaborative research. The American Indian Quarterly 29(1), 263-273. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from Project MUSE database.

Lonetree, A. (2012). Decolonizing museums: Representing native America in national and tribal museums. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. (pp. 1-28, 123-175)

Mithlo, Nancy Marie. (2004). “Red man’s burden”: The politics of inclusion in museum settings. The American Indian Quarterly 28(3), 743-763. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from Project MUSE database.

Molloy, P. (2003, October 20). National NAGPRA Program – Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/FAQ/INDEX.HTM

-Leslie Nellis

TLAM is one of those classes that really grabs you and makes you care about it.  Part of this is probably because of all the cool experiences it affords us students, like unique opportunities to work with tribal members to effect real change, and the trips we get to take to visit our new partners.

Some of the highlights so far:

• I’ve gone to not one, but two storytelling events (one here in Madison, one at Northland College)

• I’ve gotten to meet and collaborate with the awesome members of the library board for Ginanda Gikendaamin (http://www.tlamproject.org/partnerships/red-cliff-library/) up in Red Cliff

• We’ve had several fantastic speakers in class, including Debbie Reese, of “American Indians in Children’s Literature” (http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/)

• I’ve been involved with the joint TLAM/American Indian Studies book club (http://aisbookclub.blogspot.com/), and had an interesting and rewarding discussion about Sherman Alexie’s “Blasphemy.”

But aside from the unique opportunities I’ve had this semester through TLAM, what has been really great is the feeling of being a part of a group that is making a difference, and that I personally can help make a difference, even in a small way.  I’m excited to help out the library board in Red Cliff, because I believe in the project that we’re working on–both the Ginanda Gikendaamin project at Red Cliff and the broader TLAM project of creating more culturally competent information professionals and supporting tribal cultural institutions.

At the storytelling event in Ashland. Left to Right: Jake, Eleanor, Mary, Mee, and Louise

Because of how the class is structured–introducing us to historical, language, law and literature issues before delving into more information about cultural institutions specifically–I feel like I’ve gained a lot more background knowledge about tribal issues (specifically in Wisconsin).  This better understanding of certain issues makes me feel better able to be an advocate.  Already I am engaging in conversation more often with others about Native American history and current issues.

And this is all from the first eight weeks!  I’m excited to see what TLAM will bring in the coming days.

-Eleanor Johnson

This week’s TLAM class was particularly exciting and relevant for me, as I hope to work in a museum archive hybrid someday, one that has a genuine and enduring relationship with native communities in the area. We discussed the Gi bugadin-a-maa goom project —which means “To Sanction, To Give Authority, To Bring to Life” in Ojibwe. This project was undertaken by Larry Aitken, the Tribal Historian for the Leech Lake Ojibwe Band; the goal being to create a ‘living’ museum of historical documents, photographs, artifacts and digital videos of members of the community, whose knowledge can awaken archival material through storytelling. By using the Ojibwe language, stories and knowledge to bring life—and shape—to tags, codes and metadata and by creating their own taxonomy, for their own history, the Ojibwe people can reclaim intellectual sovereignty. Through this project, the Ojibwe have discovered that digital technology is actually a better medium than print culture for capturing the fluidity, spontaneity and multilayered quality of storytelling.

In class we also watched a short excerpt from the video The Drum Speaks, showing Larry Aitken talking about the importance of ceremonial objects to the understanding of his peoples’ history and identity; in particular drums, which play an integral role in Ojibwe creation stories.

Larry speaks of the spirits that lie within the drums, how they are asleep until the drum is hit, and in that moment—the moment the drum is hit—the spirits are awakened. It is in this way that the Ojibwe people ask for the attention of the spirits in order to communicate with them. It is believed that the sound of the drum was the first sound ever heard—the first heart-beat of Mother Earth. So in listening to the beat of the drum, one is actually hearing, and experiencing, the beating of Mother Earth’s heart.

Reading about all of this in Timothy Powell’s article, A Drum Speaks: A Partnership to Create a Digital Archive Based on Traditional Ojibwe Systems of Knowledge was interesting, and I felt like I understood the basic idea; that the drum is not merely an artifact to be placed in a glass case and observed from afar, but is a living thing, meant to be interacted with in order to be understood—for its true meaning to be felt by those whose history it holds. However, while watching the video in class, and listening to Larry play the drum and sing the songs to awaken the spirits, I was able to experience the drum on a deeper level, one that surpassed any written words.

I realize that my experience remains relatively superficial.  I don’t know what the words in his songs mean, and I don’t know which spirits he called upon, but I feel like I was witnessing something special, something beautiful and humbling that represents a connection to—or a relationship with—something that most people no longer value or appreciate, and I felt honored to experience it.

-Prairie Hady

“It was an exciting time to be in library school,” Janice Rice, senior academic librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College Library, shared with the class during her recent visit.

Janice Rice

One can easily see Janice’s admiration for the work Patterson and her peers accomplished to set up libraries across the U.S. During this time Janice, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, had been pursuing a master’s degree in library science. Since then, Janice has also been involved in the American Indian Library Association, and like Patterson was at one time president of the association.

For the class, Janice briefly traced the history of American Indian libraries:

• Boarding schools era: an example was given about American Indian students maintaining and using libraries in residence halls at the Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pa.
• 1970s: tribal libraries were created across the U.S. to meet the information needs of tribes and because of Patterson’s efforts
• 1980s: tribal college libraries were created for college accreditation

Janice explained how tribes, when planning their libraries, try to make their libraries relevant to their communities. The focus is on what’s most important to the tribe as a community, not the individual. And to look forward and think of future generations and their needs. Therefore, tribal libraries are integral to its communities once they’ve been planned and established. We see this evidence in the many roles a tribal library may play today: a public library, a tribal college library, a tribal archive, and/or a school library partner.

Connecting with other tribal libraries and librarians is an important part to building a tribal library community. It is from each other that we may discuss and build on best practices as it relates to our communities. There are tribal college librarian gatherings, Janice shared, and professional organizations like the aforementioned American Indian Library Association (http://ailanet.org). The AILA may be especially important to tribal libraries with limited budgets because members, for a small annual fee, may access a multitude of resources.

Janice concluded her visit with our class by providing a few interesting resources to the class to learn more about Native peoples and Tribal Libraries. These resources are listed below:

Tribal Libraries, a Selected Bibliography:

Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes: http://m-a-s-t.org/

Map of U.S. Federal and State Indian Reservations: http://infoplease.com/images/indian9.gif

Other resources mentioned above include:
American Indian Library Association (http://ailanet.org)

-Mee Xiong

¹Biggs, Bonnie. (2000). Bright Child of Oklahoma: Lotsee Patterson and the Development of America’s Tribal Libraries. American Indian Culture & Research Journal, 24(4), 55-67.

At this point in the semester, we’ve finally all had a chance to put into practice a few of the concepts we’ve talked about in class. Each TLAM service-learning group has had an opportunity to meet its community partner and begin to move forward with their semester plans. So here’s a brief roundup of the group projects, submitted by Robin Amado, Katelyn Martens, and me, Lotus Norton-Wisla. Keep checking back over the semester to see our progress!

Red Cliff Service-Learning Project (Robin Amado)

The Red Cliff group embarked on an overnight trip February 21 ­through February 22. Visiting the new Lac du Flambeau dental clinic, that incorporates clan imagery and natural materials,[ii] we also stopped by Northland College to hear three storytellers: Joe Rose, Sr. (Bad River Ojibwe), Diane Bear Defoe (Red Cliff Ojibwe), and Jim Northrup (Fond du Lac Ojibwe). It included traditional, contemporary, and historical stories.

On Friday, meeting with library board at the Early Childhood Center, we discussed lots of business, including the Ginanda Gikendaamin logo, promotional videos, building plan, grant opportunities and website content. Together, we came up with a great plan for the semester.

Oh, and by the way, there was a blizzard that forced us to stay hunkered down at the Legendary Waters casino for most of Friday. But it wasn’t too bad. 3 of 5 came away from the slots ahead!

Oneida Nation Film Preservation Project (Lotus)

Our group’s goal is to help the Oneida Nation organize and preserve their large film collection.

To do that, we’ll identify film that is relevant to the tribe and enter all technical, descriptive, and condition information that we can identify into a spreadsheet that will be accessible by everyone involved in the project.

We had our first meeting (and workshop) on Tuesday, February 26^th. We met for lunch with Loretta Metoxen and Reggie Doxtater from the Oneida Nation Cultural Heritage Department, Katie Mullen from the Wisconsin Historical Society, and Mary Huelsbeck of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR). We chatted about our mutual interests in archives and history, learned a little bit about each other, and, finally, about the dozens of film reels we’ll be working on over the semester.

At WCFTR, Mary taught us all about different kinds of film, common preservation problems, how to wind and unwind film onto a core, and how to use the Steenbeck machines to view film. We viewed a few different reels from the 1960s-70s, including interviews with tribal members, a dramatization of leaving for Indian boarding schools, and footage of a collapsed building.

Loretta identified several people and places quickly as we were watching the films, which made us realize that we will have to figure out a way to take pictures to send to her for identification.  Her knowledge of the tribe (people, places, events, traditions) will add so much more meaning to the descriptions of film. While we’ll be reading up on Oneida history, we’ll definitely collaborate with Loretta and Reggie to get the most complete descriptions possible of the film.

We’re all excited to get into some reels of film this week! We’ve got plans to work on the film identification every week through the rest of the semester.

It was wonderful to meet Loretta and Reggie, discuss goals for the project, and learn the skills we’ll need to get started on this film preservation project. We’re also looking forward to visiting the Oneida nation sometime in April!

Ho-Chunk Learning Center Project (Katelyn Martens)

Our group visited the Ho-Chunk House of Wellness last Wednesday (2/27). The group was excited to finally meet the staff and discuss the center’s goals. Since other previous TLAM classes have been working with the center, we weren’t quite sure about our role. Coming back from the trip, we knew the best places to put our effort––and we’ve got lots of ideas on how to accomplish it. The main goal is to develop a kid-friendly and easy to use children’s library.

Here are few of the main topics we discussed with the Learning Center staff:

Collection development:

• Obtain more books for the library
• Make an Amazon wish list and direct people there if they are interested in purchasing books, magazines, and other materials.
• Prioritize purchasing Accelerated Reader and Native American literature books

Instruction:

• Teach the Ho-Chunk Youth Council how to use library thing, basic shelving practices, and basic organization practices in order for them to take ownership of the library collection and help manage the high rate of staff turnover.

Organization:

• Tag the books within LibraryThing with their AR numbers to help teachers choose books for students.
• Make a checkout procedure in order for students to be able to bring books home.
• Create a storytime area in one section of the Learning Center and find better shelving to accommodate the books

We plan to visit frequently, learn more about Ho-Chunk culture, and––alongside the Wellness Center staff and students––familiarize ourselves with LibraryThing.

So all of the groups have gotten off to a great start by meeting tribal partners, sharing goals, engaging in discussion, and learning! Thanks to Robin and Katelyn for their notes and pictures!

-Lotus Norton-Wisla

On Thursday, TLAM had the pleasure of chatting with Debbie Reese, a respected educator who is tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico. Debbie is an advocate for authentic American Indian children’s literature, which led her to launch the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) blog in 2006. Through AICL, she challenges the all-too-common misrepresentation of American Indians in children’s literature and helps educators, librarians, and the general public find good materials.

While Debbie shared her thoughts on sovereignty, sacred spaces, and politics, it was the issue of authenticity that I connected with the most. As a future school librarian, my goal is to have a well-balanced collection with titles that give students accurate, authentic representations of American Indian communities. To do that, though, especially with limited budgets, it’s essential that we all seek out reviews from respected, knowledgeable sources. AICL is a great place to start!

It’s especially important because, as Debbie noted, many books harbor “micro aggressions,” stereotypes that the majority culture may not even acknowledge but harm others. Clifford’s Halloween by Norman Bridwell (1986) is an example. Not only does Clifford wear a large headdress of feathers, he appears to be smoking a “peace pipe” and wears a serious expression. This image conveys many stereotypes to children, including that “Indians” are something to dress up as rather than people living in contemporary societies, working at contemporary professions, and living amongst the general American public.

It’s through librarian and educators in alliance with American Indian communities that we can present contemporary images, truthful histories, and well-researched stories to our young people. I’ll make a concerted effort to align my book choices with her suggestions.

Thank you, Debbie, for taking the time to share your knowledge with us!

-Katelyn Martens

Debbie’s recommendations on what to look for in children’s literature:

• Books giving information in contemporary society
• Tribally specific texts
• Books affirming American Indian cultures – these must be well researched

She suggests that librarians and educators should:

• Know at least one nation in-depth through reading and research
• Visit tribal websites with children in order to learn about their everyday lives
• Speak up for great children’s books so they stay in print
• Speak out on problematic texts in order to promote better alternatives

*Disclaimer: All personal opinions are my own and do not represent all members of the TLAM class, TLAM student group, Debbie Reese, or other affiliated parties.

Over 180 years ago, John Marshall, a U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, declared that Indian tribes were not foreign nations, but were instead “dependent domestic nations.” Since the ink dried on that historic opinion, the scope of tribal political sovereignty has been contested in courts throughout the country.

With the guidance of Larry Nesper, a UW-Madison Associate Professor of Anthropology and American Indian Studies, this week TLAM explored the sometimes confounding history of federal Indian law. From the “Marshall Trilogy” to the Major Crimes Act that deprived tribes of the ability to address crimes committed again their own people on their own lands, it can be (as one one of our readings put it) completely byzantine–even for me, an attorney!

But political sovereignty isn’t the only kind. Although there’s no simple, one-sentence definition for cultural sovereignty, my sense is that it involves the notion of inherent sovereignty. Tribes are not sovereign because the U.S. government conferred sovereignty to them; instead, their sovereignty emerges from land, culture, and community–from things like language and stories (which we discussed last week) that necessarily predate colonization.

I’m also happy to say that those of us working with the Ho-Chunk House of Wellness may have an opportunity to help support some of those traditions with an upcoming grant proposal. If successful, the group hopes to use part of the award for cultural programming and to increase the Learning Center’s collection of Native materials.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Finally, we are in full-on training mode to better assist with the ongoing children’s collection cataloging and labeling project. Many of us attended a workshop taught by TLAM student group member Phillip Yocham on the use of Library Thing, a free web application used to catalog books in the collection. And, despite printer malfunctions and some office supply snafus, nearly 40 more titles were labeled. We hope to deliver them later this month!

-Megan Rosborough

*Quoted in Native Nations and Museums: Developing an Institutional Framework for Cultural Sovereignty by Rebecca Tsosie. http://www.tulsalawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Tsosie.Final_.pdf

And here’s a larger version of the map: http://www.education.wisc.edu/images/student-diversity-programs/aics-lesson1-americanindiansmapcensusbureau.gif