Archives Committee
Research, Documentation, and Archival Projects Committee
Supporting: (1) the preservation of Native California archives held by individuals, families, communities, and tribes; and (2) research projects focused on Native California history and cultures past, present, and future.
PROGRAMS AND TRAINING
Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM)
Sustaining and Advancing Indigenous Cultures
ATALM “is dedicated to preserving and advancing the language, history, culture, and life ways of indigenous peoples.” It provides online training, including best practices, and lists many resources to support indigenous archival work.
The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center (CIMCC)
Weaving Native Culture into The Future
CIMCC “provides opportunities for Native Americans to receive training and experience in a variety of fields such as museum direction, curation, design, and interpretation”.
Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues (CRMAI)
The Center has provided museum and curation training focused on California Indian heritage.
RESOURCES
California Institute for Community, Art & Nature (California I CAN)
California I CAN supports California Indian art, cultures, and heritage, including several projects involving Native California archives. Its website features its “Saving Our Stories” survey results and several articles featuring California tribal archivists.
SELECTED NATIVE CALIFORNIA ARCHIVES
American Indian Resource Center (AIRC)
https://lacountylibrary.org/american-indian-resource-center/
AIRC’s collection addresses the “informational needs of American Indians in Los Angeles County and make[s] information about them available to the larger community. It features “announcements of events, classes, conferences, etc. pertaining to American Indians - local, regional, and national – on topics ranging from health issues, education, legal issues, economic issues, politics, and culture.” A current project focuses on the transcription of the Letters of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1849-1880, California Superintendency collection. These letters detail issues relating to California Indians immediately before and during the first 30 years of California's statehood."
The Bancroft Library Western Americana Collection
https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library/western-americana
The Bancroft Library Online Archive of California (OAC)
https://oac.cdlib.org/institutions/UC+Berkeley::Bancroft+Library
This collection, comprised of “primary and secondary sources pertaining to the social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural development of the western half of the United States,” emphasizes the place now known as California. It includes anthropological fieldnotes and “materials produced by Native peoples, including the personal papers of individuals as well as the records [of] organizations they have run.” The OAC’s 360 online collections also include materials pertaining to Native California.
Calisphere
Calisphere provides a “gateway to digital collections from California’s great libraries, archives, and museums. Its more than two million images, texts, and recordings, include multiple holdings Native Californian individuals, communities, and history.
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology Native California Ethnographic Object Collection
Initiated ca. 1899-1908 with the “California Survey,” in most cases, the cultural context of the 27,637 objects in this collection was “documented in notes, maps, photographs, film, and sound recordings.”
National Archives at San Bruno
https://www.archives.gov/san-francisco
Holds “permanent records created by Federal agencies and courts in” Northern and Central California and Nevada (except Clark County), including from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
National Archives at Riverside
https://www.archives.gov/riverside
Holds “permanent records created by Federal agencies and courts in” Southern California and Clark County, Nevada, including from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
California State Parks Museum Collections – California Indian Baskets
This online catalog includes photographs and catalog records of every basket in the State Parks collection. The collections includes baskets “from nearly every tribal weaving tradition of Native California.”
ARCHIVES IN ACTION
Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival (AICLS)
Helping Native Communities Create New Speakers
AICLES supports language learning through its Seeds of Language Mini-grants, Master Apprentice Program, Language is Life gatherings, and Breath of Life Institute for reawakening languages that have been dormant for decades. The Institute hosts a biennial workshop that pairs language learners with linguists and relies heavily on archival language materials.