A Guide to:
Accessing Indigenous-Related Materials
[Banff Indian Days, unidentified rider on bucking horse]. [ca.1925]. Byron Harmon fonds. V263 / NA - 3328
Resources for Indigenous Community Members
Institutions like archives and museums can often feel intimidating and difficult to navigate. Our goal is to increase the accessibility of our collections and make it easier for everyone to find Indigenous-related materials.
[Banff Indian Days parade]. [ca.1930-1940]. Byron Harmon fonds.
V263 / NA - 3371
An information rich resource with research tips, useful search terms, and Whyte Archives collections commonly used by researchers.
Boy in cowboy hat. [ca. 1910-1950]. Eliza Hunter fonds. V804 / PA - 01
Eight potential research topics to begin your study, including Indigenous languages, land, health and communities.
Resources for Non-Indigenous Researchers
Indigenous-related materials such as photographs, film and sound recordings have long been held in colonial institutions like The Whyte Archives. Here at the Whyte, we are working towards applying a reparative model to the Archives, where we actively work towards building relationships with local Indigenous communities as well as providing access to relevant materials. We are also committed to sharing, educating, and learning with our non-Indigenous visitors and researchers.
Below are resources to assist non-Indigenous researchers in aligning themselves with current ethical practices. We ask that researchers read and reflect on these materials before they request access to our collections or to our HICR staff.
Ethics
Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – TCPS 2 (2022)
Completion of the TCPS2 Core Tutorial is required by many scholars at universities and colleges across Canada prior to undertaking their research. For research that involves Indigenous materials, "Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples of Canada" is of particular relevance.
Academic
University of Washington Libraries' Guide to Research Indigenous Methods
A compilation of books, articles, and questions that researchers may find beneficial when undertaking research.
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts, Second Edition by Margaret Kovach
Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods by Shawn Wilson
Canadian
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good
Reconciling History: A Story of Canada by Jody Wilson-Raybould
True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change by Jody Wilson-Raybould
These Mountains are Our Sacred Places: The Story of the Stoney by Chief John Snow
Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an Indigenous Presence in Banff National Park by Courtney W. Mason
The True Spirit and Original Intent of Treaty 7 by the Treaty 7 Tribal Council, Walter Hildebrandt, Sarah Carter and Dorothy First Rider
Additional resources may be available at your local library and at the Whyte Book Shop.
[Banff Indian Days photographs]. ca. 1910 - 1953. Unknown. Luxton family fonds. LUX / I / D3a / 13 / PA - 27
The Whyte Archives Policies
Access to and Use of Indigenous Materials
Over years of informal and formal consultations with Indigenous community members and staff, The Whyte has come to recognize that there are cultural protocols around sharing Indigenous knowledge, sound and images.
Part of the response to this, museum wide, has been to create a Living Policy for Access to and Use of Indigenous Materials in order to ensure that we maintain and communicate respectful guidelines in regards to the accessing of Indigenous content. We encourage all visitors to the research room to familiarize themselves with the policy prior to their visit.
[Banff Indian Days photographs]. ca. 1910 - 1953. Unknown. Luxton family fonds. LUX / I / D3a / 13 / NA - 10
Image and Materials Reproduction
If you wish to use Indigenous-related material from the Archives for academic, personal, professional, or commercial use, an additional application is required.
In alignment with the Whyte's Living Policy for Access to and Use of Indigenous Materials, Indigenous-related materials in our collections will require permissions from applicable Indigenous communities/family members. The WMCR honours the Cultural Rights and Intellectual Property inherent in these materials, and is committed to collaborating with the local Indigenous community in making this process respectful and ethical.
If you are requesting access to Indigenous materials, recordings, film or photographs for research, display or publication purposes, permission from Indigenous community/family members will be required past the initial research phase. This consultation and request for consent should be with done with the closest possible family descendants of the subject of research or person represented in photographs/films or sound recordings.
Permissions will be required before any reproduction orders can be processed.
Please note these decisions on permissions could take up to 2-4 months and may not always be granted.
Mackenzie River. 1899 - 1927. Moore family fonds.
V439 / PS - 289
Contact or Arrange a Visit
Please reach out to hicr@whyte.org or submit a request through the Contact page.
Johnny Mark with son, Rod Mark. 1955. Peter and Catharine Whyte fonds. V683 / III / B / NS - 2004