Presenting Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada, a multilingual, interactive eBook
Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada is a free interactive multimedia eBbook featuring 28 essays and over 140 images. Indigenous staff at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) wrote the essays to offer personal interpretations of collection items such as journals, maps, artwork, photographs, publications and audiovisual recordings. This e-book provides unique perspectives of First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation, and it shows the diversity of the histories, languages and cultures of Indigenous peoples. Where possible, text or audio is provided in one of the following Indigenous languages and dialects. English and French are also available. It is available to download from Apple Books. The EPUB version (for all other operating devices) is available to download from LAC’s website. During this presentation, Beth Greenhorn, coordinator of the book will provide an overview of this publication that includes the translations in the Indigenous languages. Karyne Holmes, author of three of the essays, will discuss her research, selection and interpretation of collection materials. Tom Thompson, who designed the book, will take participants on a virtual tour during the talk.
Presenter/Facilitator Bio
Karyne Holmes
Karyne is an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibway woman) from Bawaating (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario). She attended McGill University and the University of Ottawa for studies in music history and performance, and cultural anthropology. She is a graduate of the RBC Indigenous Internship Program at the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) where she had the role of the collections information liaison and also participated in the curatorial development of the Canadian History Hall. She has since worked at the CMH as an archival assistant, and as a historical researcher for the Métis Nation of Ontario. She joined Library & Archives Canada in 2018 as a researcher for the We are Here: Sharing Stories digitization initiative and is currently the Curator, Indigenous Initiatives in the Exhibitions division. Her current research interests include 20th century fashion, First Nation traditional arts, Indigenous language records, and genealogy. She aspires to continue engaging in projects that promote awareness of and access to information held in archival collections.
Tom Thompson
Fresh out of Algonquin College with a photography diploma in hand, Tom Thompson started working at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in 2002, digitizing some of the incredible items from the LAC collections. Seeking to share some of the fascinating stories behind these treasures, he conceptualized and launched the highly successful podcast Discover Library and Archives Canada in 2012, which continues to this day. Always looking for new and innovative ways to engage with audiences, in 2017 Tom brought interactive multimedia eBooks to LAC publishing Lingua Franca: A Common Language for Conservators of Photographic Materials in collaboration with head photo conservator, Tania Passafiume. In 2021, working in partnership with Indigenous staff at LAC and project coordinator Beth Greenhorn, Tom launched his most ambitious project to date, Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada. This multilingual, multimedia eBook features essays written by Indigenous staff at LAC, who reinterpreted and re-contextualized the collections at LAC.
Beth Greenhorn
Beth Greenhorn has an MA in Canadian Art History from Carleton University. She is a Senior Project Manager at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). From 2003-2017, she managed Project Naming, a nationally and internationally recognized community-based initiative involving the digitization of photographs depicting First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation. She co-curated the traveling exhibition (2016-present), Hiding in Plain Sight: Discovering the Métis Nation in the Collections of Library and Archives Canada, and was the LAC curator of Pathways: Following Traces of Indigenous Routes Across Ontario, an exhibition in collaboration with Toronto Public Library. She coordinated Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada. Most recently, she co-edited Atiqput: Inuit Oral History and Project Naming, recently published McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Cost: Free
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/PdA7ucm5MVnkqP778
This is part of the Maskwacis Cultural College Microlearning Series and is open to the public.
Contact Manisha Khetarpal by email mkhetarpal@mccedu.ca or call toll free: 1 866 585 3925