WiLS has embarked on the third year of its grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to advance the creation and preservation of digital collections in Wisconsin’s tribal archives, libraries, and museums. The three-year initiative, Curating Indigenous Digital Collections (CIDC), funds a series of post-graduate fellowships to support knowledge preservation and language revitalization in Wisconsin Native Nations.
This coming year will look a little different than the prior two years. WiLS team members Erin F.H. Hughes and Kristen Whitson are working closely with the Year 3 fellow and prior CIDC grant partners to further connect with Native Nation cultural workers throughout Wisconsin.
In September 2023, we welcomed Cole Clark as our third-year Fellow. Cole graduated from Alma (Michigan) College with a Bachelor of the Arts degree and comes to WiLS from the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways where she gained extensive experience in Mukurtu. She lives and works in northern Michigan. “I am incredibly excited to work with the Native Nation communities of Wisconsin on their digital stewardship projects! I think Mukurtu is an amazing platform that amplifies indigenous voices and has the potential to become an important tool for digital and data sovereignty. It is a privilege to be a part of this good work,” says Cole.
Over the next year, Cole will travel throughout the state of Wisconsin visiting and making connections with Wisconsin Native Nation cultural workers, gathering information on their digital stewardship projects, needs, and use of or interest in Mukurtu. She will take this information and work with WiLS team members and Native Nation mentors to create a plan for a community of practice. This community will bring cultural workers together to collaborate and communicate about the unique needs of digital preservation within the sovereign nations of Wisconsin and the myriad of unique tasks that come along with it.
The community of practice will build off of over a half a decade of community networks and trusted relationships established during IMLS and NEH funded grants. WiLS will continue to put the Native Nation cultural workers at the center of everything, making sure they are equal participants in decision-making processes, and that we help create a community of practice that assists cultural workers with their digital stewardship needs.