The Curating Indigenous Digital Collections Fellowship (CIDC) grant is coming to an end, and as the third-year fellow, my time with WiLS is also sadly drawing to a close. I have spent some time reflecting on my work over the past year and would like to share some of my favorite experiences and the insights I have gained along the way.
I began my fellowship in September 2023, and it was not long before I made my first trip to Madison to meet with my colleagues, Erin Hughes, the Digital and Community Outreach Archivist; Kristen Whitson, the Digital Specialist and Consortia Manager; and Cassy Leeport, a long-time partner and friend of WiLS, who is also the Tribal Libraries, Archives and Museums (TLAM) Instructor at the UW-Madison iSchool. I was briefed on the accomplishments of the previous fellows with the first and second-year partners and learned about an upcoming initiative to revive the Culture Keepers Convening. I discovered that my role as the third-year fellow would differ from that of the previous fellows. Instead of focusing on a single community, I would have the opportunity to work on multiple projects with several Native Nation organizations, travel all over the state connecting with cultural heritage workers, discuss their cultural preservation needs, and collaborate with WiLS staff to identify ways to support those needs.
“Over the course of this year, I visited nine of the state’s Native Nations, meeting many kind and welcoming cultural heritage professionals. The gratitude I feel for the privilege of having worked in this role is boundless. Nothing in my future professional career will compare to the amazing connections I have made and the experiences I have had over this last year. It has been an honor to work with WiLS staff and so many amazing cultural heritage workers from the Native Nations of Wisconsin. “
The following month, I made my first visit to the A.E Miller Library/Museum in Bowler to meet Monique Tyndall, Director of the Cultural Affairs Department, and Barbara Terrio, the Student Language Teacher from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. I had the opportunity to continue the work of second-year CIDC fellow, Kelsie Flack, by working with the traditional arts collection for the community on the content management system Mukurtu. I created community records for Stockbridge-Munsee cultural heritage materials, many of which were beadwork items stewarded by the National Museum of the American Indian. These community records included high-definition photos taken by Monique Tyndall, along with measurements and other important details needed for potential reproduction of some items. I also participated in building the Munsee language Mukurtu dictionary. The Mukurtu dictionary features many great capabilities, including the ability to add audio files for word pronunciation. The Cultural Affairs Department received a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction grant to create Munsee language flashcards. I assisted in planning this project and created QR codes to be printed on the flashcards, which, when scanned, will connect to the Munsee language Mukurtu dictionary. While working on this project, I collaborated virtually with Barbara Terrio several times a week. Her company and delightful conversation have been among the many highlights of my year and will be dearly missed.
After the new year, WiLS launched the Digital Collections Stewardship Learning Cohort, inspired by one of WiLS’ partners. This peer-learning cohort aimed to bring together Native Nations cultural heritage workers to connect and learn collaboratively while completing the OCLC course, Digital Collections Stewardship. I had the opportunity to assist in facilitating the cohort’s monthly meetings. Each month, cohort members completed one of the course modules and then met virtually to discuss the course activities and content. Digital preservation was one of my professional development goals for this fellowship, and taking this course and preparing for the cohort meeting was immensely beneficial.
In February, I resumed work with the first-year partner, Hoocąk Waaziija Haci (Ho-Chunk Nation Language Division or HLD), continuing where first-year CIDC fellow Sarah Lundquist left off. I visited HLD staff in Black River Falls and met with Director Adrienne Thunder and Linguist Samson Falcon. I assisted with rehousing collections and trained staff on Mukurtu CMS. I helped plan the transfer of the HLD Mukurtu site from a Washington State University-hosted site to the Mukurtu Midwest hub and have continued to help curate HLD Mukurtu collections under staff guidance. During the Reconvening Culture Keepers conference in April, I worked with HLD staff to set up a hands-on session that included selecting HLD materials for inventory and digitization. This was, by far, the most challenging few days of my fellowship. I had no prior experience with this type of project, but I leaned heavily on the guidance of my colleagues and the knowledge of HLD staff. Together, we were able to set up a great hands-on session, which I consider a success!
Over the course of this year, I visited nine of the state’s Native Nations, meeting many kind and welcoming cultural heritage professionals. The gratitude I feel for the privilege of having worked in this role is boundless. Nothing in my future professional career will compare to the amazing connections I have made and the experiences I have had over this last year. It has been an honor to work with WiLS staff and so many amazing cultural heritage workers from the Native Nations of Wisconsin.
