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Dominique Robichaud

MISt II student

MITACS Project: Adopting Knowledge Management Practices in the Creation of a Tribal Archives in Rural Québec

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First Nations have rich and diverse cultures that are a fundamental part of Canada’s identity and have subsequently grown into a prevailing contemporary subject of interest for multiple disciplines. People often resort to Federal or institutional archives center to acquire knowledge regarding First Nations’ history and culture, rather than to the communities themselves. There is a belief that archives or the practice of archiving, as we know it, is a Western invention; one that has not been adopted by most First Nations’ communities. However, many of Indigenous communities have developed their own archives, often known by the literature as ‘tribal archives’ to preserve and share their collective memories within their own terms. Over the years, two Waban-Aki establishments (Ndakina Office and Musée des Abénakis) have acquired large sums of information or knowledge relevant to the economical, historical, geographical, political, and societal development of the Waban-Aki Nation. This mass of information and knowledge, as a whole, offers a unique and authentic view of the First Nation’s collective memories, and may serve as evidence in various contexts.The mission of this internship is to build the foundation blocks of an information center: one that will: (1) centralize the knowledge and information from all units/services of the Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki and (2) enable information sharing and reuse between internal and external stakeholders.