Ethical Approaches to Digital Archiving for Indigenous Communities

The present landscape of archival practice within academic libraries brings both opportunities and challenges for Tribal communities seeking to preserve and share Indigenous knowledge, histories, and cultural practices through contemporary approaches. However, institutional archiving– even community archival–practices often replicate colonial frameworks that marginalize and subjugate Indigenous memory, perpetuate extractive methodologies, and disregard cultural protocols and ownership. Despite these factors, Tribal communities are at a turning point in their histories wherein they must determine the degree at which they accept Western archival praxis and digital technologies (if any at all) for cultural transmission and dissemination. This presentation discusses the Firekeepers Initiative, a Mellon-funded three-year project supporting O’odham communities in Arizona pursuing archival autonomy, implements community-centered approaches that honor O’odham sovereignty, data governance, and intellectual property. By examining community collaborations to date, this session offers guidance for indigenizing digital archives and fostering equitable partnerships that honor Indigenous agency and personhood. 

Learning Objectives:

By foregrounding Indigenous, culturally-specific knowledge systems, highlights how archives can serve as tools for cultural revitalization, rather than sites of epistemic erasure Addresses practical strategies for implementing ethical digital archiving practices, including the use of Indigenous languages, metadata rooted in relational accountability, and technological tools that respect restricted access protocols. Underscores why an all Indigenous library team is imperative to supporting Tribal communities with archival collaborative projects. 

Presenters:

Alex Soto (Tohono O’odham Nation) is director of the Labriola National American Indian Data Center at Arizona State University (ASU) Library. Under his leadership, the Labriola Center has developed and implemented culturally responsive library services, expanded its personnel seven-fold, and re-established its physical locations as culturally safe spaces for Indigenous library users. Alex co-authored ASU Library’s first land acknowledgement statement, is the recipient of the Society of American Archivists 2022 Archival Innovator Award, and recently was awarded a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for “Firekeepers: Building Archival Data Sovereignty through Indigenous Memory Keeping,” a three-year project to preserve Indigenous knowledge through community-based participatory archival partnerships with Arizona’s Tribal communities. He also is the treasurer for the Arizona Humanities Board of Directors and is an American Indian Library Association executive board member. Alex's journey to librarianship comes after years of success as a touring hip-hop musician and activist. 

Alycia de Mesa, PhD is an Indigenous Education Specialist for the Firekeepers Initiative through ASU’s Labriola National American Indian Data Center working with O’odham communities. With maternal roots from Apache of Chihuahua, Mexico, mestiza, and Japanese heritage, Dr. de Mesa focuses her research on Indigenous science and technology and Indigenous Knowledge Sovereignty—crafting digital storytelling and countermapping methods that center Tribal community voices and agency. While completing her doctorate in Human & Social Dimensions of Science and Technology through ASU College of Global Futures, she led the Chi’chil Countermapping Project: an interactive, living map in English, Spanish, and Western Apache documenting chi’chil (Emory oak acorn) traditions and stories from Apaches in Arizona and Northern Mexico. From 2015–2023 she taught storytelling, communications, and sustainability at ASU School of Sustainability for graduate and undergraduate students. She is a UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab expert and Senior Global Futures Scholar.