How can we build an archival knowledge system that reflects deep cultural resources of the communities these learning spaces aim to serve? Archives have long been recognized as sites of negotiating power. A recent event hosted by the NULab discussed one project that is working to renegotiate that power by rethinking and redesigning the library system to meet community needs.
On February 26, 2025, the NULab hosted a panel to discuss how the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan set out on a project to rethink archival practices and ground archival knowledge in indigenous practices.
Professor Ellen Cushman, Cherokee Nation Citizen, Co-Director of the NULab, and Dean’s Professor of Civic Sustainability, kicked off the event with a brief introduction to the project and to Dr. Gordon Henry. Sharing several captivating stories with students, Dr. Gordon Henry, an enrolled member and citizen of the White Earth Anishinaabe Nation in Minnesota and previous Audrey and John C. Leslie, Endowed Chair in American Indian Literature at Michigan State University, demonstrated the power of Indigenous narratives and cultural knowledge sharing. He then introduced several members of the team to present on their project. This included Anne Heidemann, Tribal Librarian for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and Melissa Isaac, a citizen of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and a dedicated education and mental health advocate for Indigenous youth.
Anne Heidemann discussed the process of developing the project to meet their goals, which began with determining who in the community would want to be involved. She also emphasized how the team continually committed themselves to “think Indigenously,” to trust that things happen for a reason and to trust that the community itself were the experts in building a new library system. Heidemann explained their preference for indigenizing over decolonizing in their work, which often centers the colonizer, as the team aimed to “reclaim what they wanted, share what they thought was appropriate, and walk in the world that way.” The project team recognized a shared responsibility to their ancestors and to their community to develop a library that was friendly, helpful in the process of discovery, and reflective of different experiences of the community.
Melissa Isaac went on to explain the philosophy that went into the library system. She explained the importance of teaching, sharing, and learning with the community at lodges before starting on the work. Isaac reflected that as they centered their work through clan systems, “then things started falling into place.” The ceremonial aspects of the process were just as important as the development of the library system because they allowed the team to be guided by a purpose of passing down knowledge to future generations. Isaac spoke to this responsibility, saying, “This goes far beyond organizing books on a shelf, it’s about cultural revitalization for our community, especially our young ones.” Maawn Doobiigeng, Gather Together, therefore became the central philosophy of the new library system.
Heidemann then detailed the implementation of the new library system, which involved reclassifying over 20,000 items across three locations. The team used a system as defined by the wider group to complete this re-classification. This included a new call number that indicated the clan and the sub category related to the responsibilities of that clan. The cataloging purposefully centers Indigenous language so as to be part of the “revitalization efforts in the community, for people to connect or to learn if they don’t have that connection already.”
The cataloging choices recognized the following:
- The authority of the author:
- Anishinaabe(k): One or more of the contributors identity as Anishinaabe
- Mayagi Anishinaabe(k): One or more of the contributors identify as Indigenous, but not Anishinaabe
- Kaawii Anishinaabe-aawsiiwok: The contributor(s) do not identify as Indigenous
- The age groups:
- Binoojiinhik: Children
- Eshkiniigid: Teen
- Nitaawgid: Adult
- The type of book:
- Aadizookaan: Factual, what we know to be true, and traditional stories and teachings
- Dibaajimowinan: Embellished, creative stories
Heidemann shared that they would continue to engage with the community as they get used to the new system and that they will work to share their work with other library professionals. She stressed that this system was designed and implemented for this particular community and not meant to be “universal,” and concluded with an invitation to the audience to work with their own communities to rethink what systems may make most sense for them.
