AERI 2009 – Los Angeles

1. AERI 2009 – Los Angeles Indigenous Knowledge and the Archives: Embracing Multiple Ways of Knowing and Keeping Sue McKemmish & Shannon Faulkhead (on behalf of Trust & Technology Team and Indigenous SIG, ASA)

2. Background Renewed focus on Bringing Them Home 1997 recommendations, including recordkeeping recommendations Relevant Rights Statements A milestone for Australia – Sorry Day, 13 February 2008: The National Parliamentary Apology to the Indigenous People of Australia and the Stolen Generations Renewed national energy for reconciliation – how should the archival profession respond?

3. Renewed Focus on Bringing Them Home 1997 • From 1910 to 1970 up to 50,000 children were forcibly taken from their families. • Bringing Them Home tells some of their stories • Findings included: • Need for Indigenous Australians to reclaim identity by knowing their family background and reconnecting with the places and cultures of their people. • Importance of telling the stories of post-colonisation experience, in particular of separation, within Indigenous communities and beyond to the wider Australian community as a means of honouring the experiences of these generations of Indigenous Australians and ensuring their place within Australia’s history and memory. • In the longer term, the need for Indigenous communities to control their own historical documentation.

4. Response of Australian Archival Community • Initiatives to provide better access to records and better services to Indigenous people seeking information for family link-ups, land claims and redress • Greater awareness of need for culturally sensitive description and appraisal • Consultation with Indigenous people and communities, especially re access and exhibitions • Undertaken within paradigm that positions Indigenous people as subjects of records and clients of archival services • The third recommendation - Indigenous community control of their historical documentation – has not been addressed.

5. Related Rights Statements 2007 UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples UN Human Rights Council’s Joinet-Orentlicher Principles • the right for individuals and communities in post-colonial and post-trauma societies to know the truth about past events Australian Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights • provide for the ownership and control of Indigenous heritage, including ‘documentation of Indigenous peoples’ heritage in all forms of media’ 2003/05 World Summits on the Information Society • advocated ‘people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society’; recognised ‘special situation of indigenous peoples’, and need to ‘preserve their heritage and their cultural legacy’.

6. Parliamentary Apology to Indigenous Australians by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 13 February 2008 To the Stolen Generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Parliament of Australia, I am sorry. And I offer you this apology without qualification. We apologise for the hurt, the pain and suffering we, the parliament, have caused you by the laws that previous parliaments have enacted. We apologise for the indignity, the degradation and the humiliation these laws embodied. We offer this apology to the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, the families and the communities whose lives were ripped apart by the actions of successive governments under successive parliaments… I say to non-Indigenous Australians listening today who may not fully understand why what we are doing is so important, I ask those non-Indigenous Australians to imagine for a moment if this had happened to you. I say to honourable members here present: imagine if this had happened to us. Imagine the crippling effect. Imagine how hard it would be to forgive. But my proposal is this: if the apology we extend today is accepted in the spirit of reconciliation, in which it is offered, we can today resolve together that there be a new beginning for Australia. And it is to such a new beginning that I believe the nation is now calling us.

7. Archives and Renewed National Energy for Reconciliation As Indigenous and settler communities in various countries and regions have jointly reflected on their engagement with archives, there has been a growing recognition that Western archival methods reflect and reinforce a privileging of settler/colonist voices and narratives – often although not always expressed in written form – over Indigenous ones. Further, the conventional positioning of individuals as the subjects of the archive has had a particularly disempowering effect on Indigenous people whose lives have been so extensively documented in archives, often for the purposes of surveillance, control and dispossession. Renewed national energy for reconciliation may be conducive to exploring the legal, policy and archival challenges involved in implementing the Bringing Them Home recommendation re Indigenous community control of their historical documentation.

8. Trust & Technology Project: Building Archival Systems for Indigenous Oral Memory About eighty Koorie people, the Indigenous people of South-Eastern Australia, participated in the project, along with researchers from the Public Record Office Victoria, the Koorie Heritage Trust, the Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce, the Australian Society of Archivists and Monash University. T&T set out to find out about the experiences and opinions of Koorie people in relation to archives – oral and written – to enable archivists and Koorie people to develop systems and services which work better for Koorie communities. Findings highlight need for • Australian archival profession to understand the priorities of Indigenous communities and embrace Indigenous frameworks of knowledge, memory and evidence. • legal, policy and professional approaches that support Indigenous frameworks of knowledge, memory and evidence, and re-position Australian Indigenous communities as co-creators of archival records T&T developed a draft statement of principles relating to Indigenous knowledge and the archives and a related action agenda.

9. Indigenous Knowledge and Archives Stories are powerful. The courage of the telling, and the richness of the content, can move people and communities to rethink their identities, and the meanings and values they assign to their lives. Stories are a fundamental method used by marginalized groups around the world in their efforts to reclaim their history and culture, and assert their place in the world I think it is very important for us … the stories around the biographical stuff of our family and Ancestors, and also some of the stories about culture and law … they are relevant to where we are from, and for our kids as well, … probably the most fundamental thing is an individual’s identity, where they fit in, and where they belong… Having some way to reconnect with family, community and culture Australian Indigenous communities rely on sources of knowledge and methods of transmission that differ from the knowledge frameworks of the wider community. Oral memory is a very significant and storytelling lies at the heart of Indigenous knowledge transmission within communities. Far reaching implications for the archival profession in Australia, archival institutions, systems and services, and archival science.

10. Outcome 1: All forms and sources of Indigenous archives should be respected and preserved All sources – stories told within families and communities, recorded stories, the records of Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations – are valued. Archival science & practice privilege Western expressions of memory and evidence. Archival sources of Indigenous knowledge are fragmented & dispersed. Dispersal of archival sources and fragmentation of Indigenous knowledge mirrors dispossession, dislocation and disempowerment of colonialism. Need for frameworks and systems for sustainable community archives that integrate, preserve and makes accessible to the community all records relating to the community, in whatever form or medium, including government and church records, as well as community and family records. Recovery and re-integration of Indigenous knowledge from non-Indigenous archival sources, and acknowledgement of significance of oral records are particular priorities.

11. Action re Outcome 1 The research team is working with stakeholder communities to ensure definitions of Indigenous knowledge are inclusive of archival sources, including the archives of government and non-Indigenous organisations. A draft statement of principles relating to Australian Indigenous Knowledge and Archives has been developed for presentation to ASA Council in July 2009

12. Archives, state libraries and other repositories house many significant records about Indigenous communities. These are the products and consequence of colonisation, dispossession, removal and the relentless surveillance to which Indigenous people were subjected. Outcome 2: Indigenous people need greater control over their archives Many archival records about Indigenous people are not owned by them. Indigenous people are not alone here: Australians generally do not own information collected about them by governments and other organisations. However, for Indigenous people archival records have been instruments of dispossession or family separation. More recently they are playing an important role in restoring family and community connections. It is essential that Indigenous people control these records. I’d want to know what they’re going to use it for and why. I don’t want them to use it as a means to be against the [tribe name] people. I’d never ever give permission for that sort of stuff. I’ll be very restrictive with the whitefella because it’s all about trust and knowing where they’re coming from. For to us these stories are life.

13. Outcome 3: Rights in records When you think back, when we went through our land claims, it makes you wonder … the access the government lawyers had to our families was unreal. It really opened our eyes when we couldn’t get it ourselves. Human rights statements and Indigenous protocols say Indigenous people have the right to make decisions about the creation and management of their knowledgein all its forms. Indigenous peoples have particular rights in records which arise from the part they have played in the past in their oppression and dispossession, and their role in the present and future in recovering identity and memory, re-uniting families, seeking redress and reconciliation. But Indigenous people in Australia have few rights over records relating to them in government and other archival institutions. Many Indigenous people view all records that relate to them as their records, but the institutions that house and control the records do not view them in the same way. Indigenous people have access rights, but there are no rights of disclosure, and no shared decision-making relating to ownership, custody, preservation and access. Why does everyone have to know about anyone’s family unless they give permission. Everyone knows everything about you, but you don’t.

14. Action re Outcomes 2 & 3 The largest obstacle to the realisation of Indigenous rights in records is the Australian legal and archival frameworks. This could be addressed by: • Reforms to legal frameworks and extension of international and national laws and protocols to all records and archival sources of Indigenous knowledge • Re-definition of records creation enforcing broader spectrum of rights and obligations. A research and action agenda for reform of legal and archival frameworks is being developed in consultation with the Monash Castan Centre in Human Rights Law. An International Workshop bringing together archival, legal, Indigenous studies and community experts is planned for 2010.

15. Outcome 4:A holistic, community-based approach to Indigenous archives Indigenous knowledge cannot be made to adhere to the usual institutional/sectoral boundaries of archival programs. Holistic, community-based approaches would bring together, physically or virtually, all archives of a community, regardless of their source or form, and would model community perspectives on the interconnectedness of Western and Indigenous knowledge traditions. Actions re Outcome 4 • Australian Research Council grant, Koorie Archiving: Communities and Records Working Together (Shannon Faulkhead, Indigenous Post Doctoral Fellow) • NAA pilot of a participant model involving Indigenous community sharing in decision-making about records relating to their community

16. That’s right, just to put the record straight. “That wasn’t the way it happened. This is the way it happened”. People want to pussyfoot around the truth … To read something that is incorrect is pretty hard because you know that wasn’t the way it happened. If you can have your chance to be heard, then definitely. Outcome 5: “Setting the Record Straight” Indigenous people want to challenge the contents of ‘official’ records by recording their own narratives and perspectives alongside them. International human rights principles and the experiences of other post-colonial, post-surveillance societies endorse this as an important means of acknowledging and limiting the ongoing potency of records which have been the tools and products of dispossession and control. Indigenous people need mechanisms to set the record straight, comment upon the inaccuracies or limitations of institutional records, contribute family narratives which expand upon or give context to institutional records, and present their version of events alongside the official one. Action re Outcome 5 Implementation of KAS, a Koorie Archiving System based on Web 2.0 technologies, by Public Record Office Victoria, Koorie Heritage Trust and Monash University

17. Outcomes 6 & 7: Archival education and research Archival education should enable students to recognise their own cultural perspectives and how these come into play in their work and research. Students need exposure to the experiences of Indigenous people who have interacted with the dominant knowledge framework represented by mainstream archival institutions. Initiatives needed to increase the participation of Indigenous people in archival education as educators and students. Archival profession needs to consider its role in archival training for Indigenous communities. Archival research relating to Indigenous communities should be conducted within research design and ethics frameworks and adopt participatory research methodologies which better reflect the values and rights of communities.

18. Actions re Outcomes 6 & 7 PacRim Pluralizing the Archival Paradigm Through Education Project (UCLA, Monash, Rienmen) Inclusion of provisions to address inclusive education issues in accreditation and recognition processes Development of inclusive and culturally sensitive curriculum Scholarship and internship programs, e.g. Monash Indigenous Archives Scholarship (NAA, PROV, ASA sponsorship) Advocacy action within Monash and in appropriate national and international forums re community-centred archival research design, ethics and methods Publications providing “literary warrant” for community-centred research design, ethics and methods

19. Draft Statement of Principles Principle 1 Recognition of all Archival Sources of Indigenous Knowledge: Archival sources of Indigenous knowledge are diverse and include records held in the archives of Government and non-Indigenous organisations Principle 2: Recognition of Rights in Records: The rights of Indigenous people should extend to making decisions about the creation and management of their knowledge in all its forms, including knowledge contained in records created by non-Indigenous people and organisations about Indigenous people. Principle 3: Recognition of Rights in Legal and Archival Frameworks: Given the extent to which Indigenous people are documented in archives, the circumstances under which many records were created and the part that these records have played in their dispossession, dislocation and disempowerment, as well as in the recovery of identity, reconnecting families, pursuing land claims, intergenerational healing, redress and reconciliation, Indigenous rights in records need to be recognised in legal, political and professional frameworks.

20. Draft Statement of Principles Principle 4 Adoption of Holistic, Community-Based Approaches to Indigenous Archiving: Community-based, community controlled archival systems and services based on a holistic, approach to Indigenous archiving – bringing together, integrating, preserving and making accessible to the community, physically or virtually, all archives of value regardless of their source, form or medium – will best meet the needs of Indigenous communities. Principle 5 Recognition of Need for Indigenous People to Challenge ‘Official’ Records: Mechanisms are needed to set the record straight, comment on inaccuracies or limitations, contribute family and individual narratives, and present their version of events alongside the official one.

21. 6. Recognition of Need for Inclusive Education and Training for Recordkeeping Professional Practice Principle 6 Recognition of Need for Inclusive Education and Training for Recordkeeping Professional Practice: A set of principles relating to inclusive, pluralistic and culturally aware recordkeeping education and training should inform course recognition/accreditation and the expectations set by employers and professional associations for ongoing professional development. Principle 7 Researching Together, Rethinking the Relationship between Academia and Indigenous communities: University-based researchers need to overhaul research methods which position Indigenous communities as the subjects of research, pursue a participatory model of community-based research, and avoid approaches which involve a re-colonisation or misappropriation of Indigenous knowledge by researchers. The principles of community-based participatory action research need to be embedded in academia.

22. Ancestral Memories Acknowledgement: Artist Vicki Couzens, Gunditjmara Tribe, from the Koorie Heritage Trust Inc. Collection The T&T Project selected this image as its logo as it reflects the continuity of Koorie knowledge through the generations – that the memories of our Ancestors continue with us today. As Vicki said in Wrapped in a Possum Skin Cloak: ‘I’m firmly in the belief that we have ancestral memories, that it comes from within’. The T&T project found that oral memory is a very important source of Indigenous knowledge. Written records, including government records, are another. When researching possum skin cloak designs Vicki found this as well: ‘I’ve reinterpreted those symbols, I’ve done a bit of figuring out, and I’ve talked to my dad a lot about it … I’ve looked at some of those symbols and thought, “Well what do they mean?” And some I haven’t got a clue, and some I’ve gone, “This has to be what this means! It makes sense, it feels right …” If you look in George Augustus Robinson’s writings … at the drawing that shows a map of eel traps, and then you look at one of the designs on the Lake Condah cloak – you go, “Well this has to be that. It just looks like it and it makes sense…” (Reynolds, J.R., National Museum of Australia Press, 2005)

23. Acknowledgements The Project Team gratefully acknowledges the support of our industry partners: the Public Record Office of Victoria, the Koorie Heritage Trust Inc., the Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce and the Australian Society of Archivists Indigenous Issues Special Interest Group. We thank in particular Jason Eades, Chief Executive Officer of the Koorie Heritage Trust, and Justine Heazlewood, Director and Keeper of Public Records for their commitment to the project. In his former position as Director and Keeper of Public Records, Ross Gibbs was instrumental in establishing the project, and we thank him for his ongoing interest in the project’s progress since moving to the National Archives of Australia. The Australian Research Council funded this research through its Linkage Scheme. The Monash University Chief Investigators were Professor Lynette Russell (Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies), Professor Sue McKemmish, Emeritus Professor Don Schauder, Dr Kirsty Williamson (2003-04) and Associate Professor Graeme Johanson (from 2005) (all from the Caulfield School of Information Technology). Justine Heazlewood, Director and Keeper of Public Records, was a Partner Investigator. Researchers engaged on the project at various times were Andrew Waugh, Graeme Hairsine, Simon Flagg, Rachel U’Ren, Emma Toon, Merryn Edwards, Sharon Huebner, Dr Stefanie Kethers, Fiona Ross, Carol Jackway and Jen Sullivan. Diane Singh, the project’s Community Advisor, played an extensive and vital role at all stages of the project. Shannon Faulkead was the Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) PhD student attached to the project, although her contribution also extended far beyond the usual role of a PhD student. The Team also thanks the Project’s Advisory Group for their support at various stages of the project: Jim Berg, Kathryn Dan, Jenni Davidson, Jason Eades, Dr Jane Hunter, Angela Jurjevic, Michael Piggott, Dr Dianne Reilly, Joan Vickery, Chris Walker. We are grateful also to Koora Cooper and John (Sandy) Atkinson who were community representatives for the project at the Memories, Communities, Technologies Conference in 2006. Colleagues Dr Livia Iacovino and Professor Eric Ketelaar contributed their expertise in archives and information law to the project. Finally the Team acknowledges the eighty-one participants from the Koorie communities of Victoria who agreed to be interviewed as part of the project, along with thirteen archival service providers, managers and mediators who participated in stage two. Their preparedness to share their time, opinions and experiences is greatly appreciated and valued.

24. Citations Slide 9: Liza Dale (Senior Curator, Technology and Sustainable Futures, Museum Victoria), ‘Stories and Storytelling: A Cultural Partnership between Museum Victoria and the Victorian Women on Farms Gatherings’, Paper presented at the Setting the Agenda for Rural Women Conference, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. 16-17 July 2002. Slide 9: Trust and Technology Interview No. 42 Slide 12: Lynette Russell, ‘Indigenous Records and Archives: Mutual Obligations and Building Trust’, Archives and Manuscripts 34:1, May2006, p. 35 Slide 12: Trust and Technology Interviews No. 37 Slide 13: Trust and Technology Interviews No. 11 Slide 13: Trust and Technology Interview No. 61 Slide 16: Trust and Technology Interview No. 64

25. References • United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007, (http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/docs/declaration.doc) (accessed September 2007). • The original Joinet Principles were adopted by the UNHRC in 1997 and were reviewed and extended in 2005 to become the Joinet-Orentlicher principles. They are available at (http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/61chr/E.CN.4.2005.102.Add.1.pdf) (accessed July 2007). • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Our Culture Our Future: A Report on Australian Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights, 1999, (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AILR/1999/51.html#Heading360) (accessed August 2007). • World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva 2003 – Tunis 2005), Tunis Commitment, (http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.html) (accessed July 2007).

26. Thank You