Returning love to Ancestors captured in the archives

Indigenous wellbeing, sovereignty and archival sovereignty

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12628792
AutoresKirsten Thorpe (0000-0002-2844-168X, University of Technology Sydney, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen24
Número2
Páginas125-142
Fecha de publicación2024-05-22
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaArchival Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1389-0166 • E-ISSN: 1573-7500
EditorialSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s10502-024-09440-2
OpenAlexW4398216674
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas18

This paper explores the holistic needs of First Nations people in the archives to control their cultural heritage materials with dignity and respect. It highlights the importance of the archives supporting Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Indigenous people’s spiritual and emotional needs are addressed by considering the support for Indigenous people’s wellbeing in the archives. Models of social, emotional and cultural wellbeing are presented as alternatives to discussing the need for Indigenous cultural safety in the archives. A definition of Indigenous wellbeing, sovereignty and archival sovereignty provides an approach to caring for historical records with dignity and respect and a framework for the local care and protection of Indigenous people’s knowledge into the future. The concept of Returning Love to Ancestors Captured in the Archives (Thorpe 2022), extending the work of (Harkin 2019) and Baker et al. (2020), is offered as a significant reform needed in the approaches to managing historical archives. The paper concludes by sharing a case study of the In Living Memory photographic exhibition, drawn on images created by the former New South Wales Aborigines Welfare Board to demonstrate archival approaches supporting principles of trust, benefit sharing and reciprocal relationships. Combined, they respond to the pressing need for designing respectful archiving approaches for future generations that do not reproduce harm

Cultural heritage · Ethnology · Indigenous · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Anthropology · Archaeological Research and Protection · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Digital and Traditional Archives Management · History · Law