Hosting Indigenous Community Relations
[Untitled]. [ca.1920] . Dan McCowan. Dan and Mary McCowan fonds. V408 / PS 24-121
The Hosting Indigenous Community Relations (HICR) team is here to create a welcoming and accountable space that is used for Indigenous community projects as well as individual research. We host groups in the Archives, to show Indigenous-related materials from our collections and to assist in learning the pathways towards helpful resources. We hope to create engagement and excitement as Indigenous communities connect to materials that might be meaningful to them, whether it be photographs, films, books, textual items like yearbooks or newsletters or sound recordings.
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Our team also assists with the implementation of the Whyte's Living Policy for Access to and Use of Indigenous Materials within the archival and museum space, as well as providing support to non-Indigenous and Indigenous writers and researchers in navigating this document and its related documents.
[Banff Indian Days panoramic photographs]. [ca.1910s]. Luxton family fonds. LUX / I / D3a / 8 / NA - 2
Indigenous Researchers and Groups
Visit from the Nakoda AV Club in 2022. Read more about their visit in The Cairn.
We welcome Indigenous families, groups and researchers into the Archives, and are here to assist in finding resources and materials that are meaningful to their interests. By visiting in person, visitors may access a variety of materials such as books, sound recordings, letters, maps, photographs, newspapers and magazines as well as other collected materials.
For more information on how to arrange a visit, please visit the link below.
Accessing Indigenous-Related Materials Online
Whether preparing to visit the Archives in person or doing online research, the Archives has an online database that thoroughly describes the contents of our collections. Many photographs and documents are digitized, making them available online.
Former Archives Indigenous Research Intern, Jacinda Brisson, compiled an in-depth and comprehensive guide to access and navigate Indigenous-related materials at the Whyte Archives. Additional information has been made available for non-Indigenous researchers to wisely undertake research involving Indigenous-related materials.​​
[Banff Indian Days camp]. 1955. Peter and Catharine Whyte fonds.
V683 / III / B / NS - 2020
Tipi lineup (R-L) David Bearspaw (Ozîja Thiha) tipi, Jonas Rider tipi, George McLean (Tatâga Mânî) (Walking Buffalo) tipi. 1954. Peter and Catharine Whyte fonds. V683 / III / B / NS - 1888
Local Contexts
At the Whyte Archives, we are committed to creating an ethical space for the preservation, presentation and management of Indigenous cultural heritage. The Local Contexts initiative provides a technical platform that supports doing this in a respectful and visible manner. Local Contexts creates effective pathways for implementing and maintaining Indigenous data rights. They are the leading edge of the movement to ground intellectual and cultural property rights in cultural heritage collections.
Our institution is committed to the development of new modes of collaboration, engagement, and partnership with Indigenous peoples for the care and stewardship of past and future heritage collections.
Here at the Whyte Archives, we have chosen to put the “Open to Collaborate” Notices on the Recognizing Relations photograph collection, as the project was an ongoing community naming project from 2014-2023, and we are still looking to learn more about those represented in these photographs. Our next steps will be to identify further Indigenous-related materials to place Notices on in order to invite local Indigenous community members to engage with the materials, and continue the consultation process.