Indigenous ways of knowing and situating history have been historically neglected by archival institutions over the vast tradition of archives in Canada. Embodied expressions of history such as orality, storytelling and ceremony hold unique information imbedded within the performative exchanges which needs to be recognized as authentic and valid.
As archives are used to promote our collective conceptions of heritage and identity, their failure to incorporate embodied expressions into their institutional frameworks has contributed to the dismissal of Indigenous histories on a broader scale by the Canadian public. In recent years, new methods of resituating archival records regarding Indigenous peoples have been explored as a means of addressing our country’s colonial pasts. These methods utilize partnerships between archival institutions and engagement with Indigenous source communities to enhance knowledge of archival collections. Conversely, national and international frameworks have recognized the importance of expressions such as oral traditions, oral histories and ceremony to Indigenous communities as valid forms of history in need of protection. While these frameworks are used by archival institutions, often cited as guiding principles in their work with Indigenous peoples, archives in general have yet to accept the embodied expression as an archival record. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report defines reconciliation as an act of mutual respect between two groups. I suggest that reconciliation within archival work can therefore only be achieved if archives acknowledge and incorporate Indigenous embodied records into their institutional frameworks.