The purpose of this project is to interview Indigenous students, archivists, community historians, curators, language instructors, and anyone interested about their cultures, stories, work, and their thoughts on cultural preservation and heritage/cultural resource management.

The goal is to build upon this Omeka-S archive in order to highlight the work of Indigenous history-keepers, serving as a repository for both Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous institutions/scholars. Interviews are the property of the participants themselves, and participants are encouraged to use their interviews and bios as they wish -- as a personal record, as an educational tool, as a place to shout-out future work, etc.

Additionally, the project aims to build an archive out of self-submissions to the website. Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants can submit text, poetry, art, photographs, music, and videos to the project. Submissions can specifically examine the notion of cultural preservation, or they can simply explore the participant's culture, artwork, and opinions.

The project was started in 2022 by Claire Lavarreda, a graduate student at Northeastern University focusing on Indigenous History. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2021 with a BA in History and a minor in Spanish. To learn more about Claire, check out her profile here: Claire Lavarreda.