Abstract
The main purpose of the IFLA Indigenous Matters Section is to support the provision of culturally response and effective services to Indigenous communities throughout the world. The main objective is to promote international cooperation in the fields of library, culture, knowledge, and information services to Indigenous communities that meet their intergenerational, community, cultural, and language needs. The Indigenous Matters Section encourages Indigenous leadership within the sector and the exchange of experiences, education, training, and research by connecting, collaborating, and working cooperatively with other IFLA Sections, national Indigenous library associations, the International Indigenous Librarians Forum, and Indigenous cultural memory professionals.
During the World Library and Information Congress in 2019, the idea for a special issue of IFLA Journal focused on Indigenous issues in libraries and librarianship was born. When the IFLA Indigenous Matters Section was approached about such a task, the committee discussed the idea and agreed to take on the task with great enthusiasm for sharing Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we bring this unique collection of articles to contribute to the ongoing conversation surrounding Indigenous knowledge and its intergeneration transmission within libraries and cultural memory institutions.
The members of the Indigenous Matters Section are often asked: “What do you mean by Indigenous?” Or “Who exactly is Indigenous?” Although different countries recognize different definitions for the term, the United Nations agreed on the following definition, as given by José R Martínez Cobo in 1987: Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system. (Martínez Cobo, 1987: 29)
In an essay on the state of library services for Indigenous people in Latin America, Edgardo Civallero urges immediate discussion and action on many issues affecting libraries across the region. Kawena Komeiji, Keahiahi Long, Shavonn Matsuda, and Annemarie Paikai give us a new way to think about Indigenous librarianship by using the traditional Hawaiian resource management system and applying those concepts to librarianship. A model of Hawaiian librarianship grounded in Hawaiian values is set forth quite nicely. Kirsten Thorpe explores the dangers of libraries and archives for Indigenous Australian library workers. She presents work from her doctoral dissertation on the struggle to make Indigenous information safe and available. The issues will open the eyes of people unfamiliar with the topics of Indigenous archiving and cultural safety.
Jayshree Mamtora explores the reconciliation process in Australia through the activities of the library at James Cook University in Queensland. Several steps of the reconciliation process taken at the library are discussed, including naming the library after an Indigenous former employee of the University. Omer Abbas El Sharief, Mohamed Salah Eldin Mudawi, and Radia Adam Mohamed share a study exploring the awareness of librarians in Sudan of Indigenous knowledge and the roles that Sudanese libraries can play in the growing area of Indigenous knowledge. Maned Mhlongo shares a study of South African public libraries and the lack of progress in integrating Indigenous knowledge despite a stated need.
Tara Million discusses the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling project in Canada. Readers will be able to see the growth of the festival over time and learn how the festival celebrates the people, culture, and stories of the First Nations. Nicola Andrews teaches us about the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, USA, which holds a collection of Maori photographs that Andrews discovered while a student at a local college. She began the process of working with the museum to identify the people in the images, as the Burke knew almost nothing about the images. Readers are guided through the steps that Andrews took in changing the descriptions of the images and locating the names of the people in them to honor the Maori ancestors. Wrapping up the issue, Ngozi Perpetua Osuchukwu and Nkechi Sabina Udeze give us an insight into cultural spaces in Nigerian public libraries and the important role they play in sustaining Indigenous culture there.
Our thanks go to the authors featured in this issue of IFLA Journal; we are honored that they have shared their unique perspectives and expressions, which have resulted in a dynamic and eclectic special issue. We are grateful for the dedication and committed efforts of the editorial committee who helped draft a call for papers and shouldered a good bit of work—Rashidah Bolhassan, Mohit Garg, Raj K Bhardwaj, Martha Attridge Bufton, and Rebecca Bateman—and Steven Witt, executive editor of IFLA Journal, over the last few years in bringing this special issue to fruition. Finally, we want to thank and encourage all the librarians around the world working with Indigenous peoples and materials. We hope that you find this collection of articles to be useful and a learning adventure.