WiLS has embarked on the second year of our 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, funds a series of post-graduate fellowships to support knowledge preservation and language revitalization in Wisconsin Native Nations.
Our community partner in the coming year is the Cultural Affairs Department of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. WiLS team members Erin F.H. Hughes and Emily Pfotenhauer are working closely with Monique Tyndall, Director of Cultural Affairs for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, to jump-start the SMC’s use of Mukurtu, a content management system developed by the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation at Washington State University for Indigenous communities to steward and share their cultural resources.
In June 2022, we welcomed Kelsie Flack as our second-year Fellow. Kelsie completed the Master of Library and Information Science program at Louisiana State University in 2022 and holds an undergraduate degree in art history from the University of Utah. She lives and works in Salt Lake City. “I am so excited to be able to be a part of the shift in archives toward ethical and responsible work for Indigenous communities! I am looking forward to learning about the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and how digital archives will benefit, honor, and respect them and their goals in the digital archive space,” says Kelsie.
In the coming year, Kelsie will work closely with Monique and others at SMC to establish collections development and access policies for Mukurtu and begin using Mukurtu to accept digital returns from federal, state and local collecting repositories. In November 2022, SMC and WiLS will host a POWRR Professional Development Institute, facilitated by Myriad Consulting, to offer hands-on training in digital preservation for tribal cultural workers.
WiLS is honored to be invited by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that establishes an ongoing partnership beyond the scope of this specific project. The MOU recognizes the autonomy and sovereignty of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and outlines a productive working relationship based on areas of mutual interest, collaboration, and cooperation.