Unlocking court materials: A library/community partnership for access to treaty case materials
Thursday May 15, 2025
From 1:00pm to 2:00pm
This presentation describes the partnership between Robinson Huron Waawiindamaagewin, the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund, Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, and Laurentian University. This partnership is engaged in a digital preservation project to make the materials submitted to and created by the Robinson Treaties annuities cases available in an open, online repository. The unprecedented repository - authorized by an Ontario Superior Court order - will include expert witness testimony by researchers and Anishinaabe Elders, historical evidence cited in the case, transcripts and video of the proceedings, and the trial record. This presentation will focus on the creation of a steering committee by the partners to ensure that the project is undertaken in a good way, consistent with Anishinaabe values and according to decolonial principles. We hope that this partnership will inspire academic libraries to recognize that all Canadians are treaty people and to form similar partnerships, putting libraries’ technical and human resources in the service of local Indigenous educational, cultural, and political organizations.
Speakers
Assistant Librarian (York)/Adjunct Professor (Laurentian)
York University/Laurentian University
Présidente/Directrice des affaires universitaires
Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig