This session will outline the parameters for creating and maintaining a community-driven oral history project that privileges Indigenous data sovereignty. The presenters will share lessons learned in developing a new Indigenous archive that builds upon digitizing unprocessed archival materials about the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, previously collected by scholars, along with those currently being processed by undergraduate students who are collecting and transcribing interviews to document life histories of Lumbee elders.
ABSTRACT: This session will outline the parameters for creating and maintaining a community-driven oral history project that privileges Indigenous data sovereignty. The presenters will share lessons learned in developing a new Indigenous archive that builds upon digitizing unprocessed archival materials about the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, previously collected by scholars, along with those currently being processed by undergraduate students who are collecting and transcribing interviews to document life histories of Lumbee elders. Together, the presenters will introduce the conception of the project, training, implementation, and efforts to reach a memorandum of understanding with tribal leaders. They will also explore the ethical issues at stake with managing culturally sensitive materials and traditional knowledge, grounded in meaning-making to benefit Indigenous communities as well as share how they resolved copyright issues between the tribe and university and determined access and use of materials for future use. The resulting co-owned archive—and the steps taken to preserve Indigenous sovereignty—creates an opportunity to consider how power, representation, and ownership shape oral history collections, underscoring the need to decolonize archival records and continue the work of preserving Indigenous history to empower present and future community partnerships. Presenters will then lead a Q&A session to engage audience participants in best practices and social justice efforts in leading Indigenous oral history projects.
