For this week, I will focus on my Lakota community's cultural structure and how each archival stage will impact the process. There are seven Lakota bands of Thítȟuŋwaŋ, "Teton": Oglála- "Scatter One's Own" (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation), Sičháŋǧu/Brulé- "Burnt Thigh" (Rosebud Indian Reservation), Húŋkpapȟa- "Camps at the End" (Standing Rock Indian Reservation located in North and South Dakota), Mnikȟówožu- "Those Who Plant Near Water", Itázipčho- "Without Bows," Oóhenuŋpa- "Two Kettle," and Sihásapa- "Blackfeet" (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation). These seven Lakota bands make up the Lakota Oyáte "Lakota Nation." We are the same people; however, due to the United States government violating the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 by passing the Act of February 28, 1877 (19 Stat. 254), the U.S. illegally confiscated the Black Hills. It split our homelands into present-day reservations. Our cultural structure consists of seasonal beliefs or cycles, animal/nature relations beliefs, cultural taboos, gender roles and responsibilities, patriarchal/matrilineal ceremonial requirements, and kinship systems.
There are six archival stages: acquisition, processing, arrangement, description, preservation, and deaccession. The acquisition is seeking and receiving materials from any source by transfer, donation, or purchase. My community's (the Standing Rock Indian Reservation) cultural structure will impact the acquisition of materials relevant to our region of Lakota country, as there are seven bands. As a community, we need to narrow our acquisitions to only materials about Standing Rock due to the Cheyenne River and Oglala Sioux Tribes having their tribal archive institutions. Processing is the planning and writing the collection development policy, which is essential because it defines what the institution will and will not accept. As a nation, we have seasonal beliefs, such as when and when not to harvest Red-Osier Dogwood (Red Willow). Čhaŋšáša "Red Wood" is harvested between the thunders (usually between December and March; however, due to ongoing climate change, it can be harvested earlier or later depending on when seasons are experienced in real-time); this is when the čhaŋšáša is dormant. Therefore, if we were to process this collection, we might have to wait until December-March to process it.
The arrangement is the outline/plan, which preserves the collection for description and access. As a community, we will arrange the collection as we see fit. Most likely, it will use a storytelling method as there are original stories of the čhaŋšáša. Then, we will propose the arrangement to the Elder's Preservation Council, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, and other elders in the community. It will be up to them to determine what the arrangement will be. The description communicates information about the collection, establishes administrative control, and establishes intellectual control. It will be up to the Elder's Preservation Council, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, other elders in the community, and community members how to describe the collection.
Our elders could retell the čhaŋšáša origin story and record it digitally and translate it to Lakota and English. Preserving these materials protects the longevity of our beautiful language, culture, and protocols. As a community, if we wanted to preserve a DVD, MP3, or video file, we would ask the vendor for a preservation copy to be stored for the long term and an access copy to make the content easily viewable, in addition to storing it properly in an area providing stable low temperatures, low humidity, and protection from flooding, air pollutants, and sunlight. Temperature and humidity in a storage environment should ideally not fluctuate and be within 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit and 30-55% RH. The deaccessioning is to remove archival resources from intellectual and physical custody. It will be up to the mission and scope of the collection and the community whether they want or not want the material in their possession. For example, if the material concerns our Oglála relatives, we might want to repatriate it to the community.
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