news.library.ualberta.ca
  • HOME
  • About
    • Author Profiles
    • Five Things You Need to Know About the Library
    • Cinq choses à savoir sur la bibliothèque
  • Collections
  • Community
  • Wellness
  • Français
    • Cinq choses à savoir sur la bibliothèque
news.library.ualberta.ca
  • HOME
  • About
    • Author Profiles
    • Five Things You Need to Know About the Library
    • Cinq choses à savoir sur la bibliothèque
  • Collections
  • Community
  • Wellness
  • Français
    • Cinq choses à savoir sur la bibliothèque
Tag:

Indigenous

    Planting Seeds for the Future: News from the Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team

    by Guest Author September 22, 2025
    written by Guest Author

    September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day to acknowledge the painful history and ongoing impacts of the residential school system and to honour the strength and resilience of survivors and their communities. It is also a day that calls us to action and to hope. In that spirit of hope, we are proud to share this story from our Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team, whose recent experience at the International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum embodies a hopeful path forward. Their work—building community, affirming Indigenous rights, and sharing knowledge—is a living example of how we can all contribute to a brighter, more just future.

    International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum (IILF)

    What happens when Indigenous librarians and allies from around the world gather to share, learn, and connect? Our Library’s Indigenous Initiatives team (IIT) recently found out, returning from the International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum (IILF) with new ideas and a renewed sense of purpose.

    Held every two years, the IILF is a dynamic space for Indigenous peoples to discuss the needs of their patrons, develop practices that uphold Indigenous rights, and share their visions for bright Indigenous futures. The 13th forum was particularly special, hosted in Tkaronto (Toronto), the traditional territory of Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg peoples. It was only the third time the IILF has been held in what is currently Canada.  (See this research guide for a detailed history of IILF). 

    L to R: Abigail Deck, Geordie Cardinal, Tom Hunter, Anne Carr-Wiggin, Debbie Feisst, Autumn Brown, Jessica Thorlakson
    The IILF Mauri Stone (centre) and other ceremonial items were ever present at IILF 2025

    The Dish with One Spoon

    The forum theme, “The Dish with One Spoon,” is a powerful teaching and a call to share and care for the lands and waters together. This message resonated deeply with the Indigenous Initiatives team, reinforcing the Library’s commitment to our own Decolonization & Indigenization initiatives. Directly related to this library priority, the University of Alberta Library & Museums was proud to support six Indigenous staff members—including two student interns—to attend this vital gathering. Our colleagues were active participants, presenting posters, leading sessions, and volunteering throughout the forum. Our Indigenous interns, Abigail Deck and Autumn Brown, reflected on the experience: “As two early-career Indigenous librarians, it was truly a joy to spend four days with people from all over the globe and hear how they work towards the vitalization, sustainability, and growth of their communities in public and academic libraries. The experience offered us time to reflect on our own commitments and place in the library world, and offered us the opportunity to consider future projects based on the values of inclusion, reconciliation, and reciprocity.” 

    The Day on the Land

    One of the most unique and meaningful parts of the forum is the Day on the Land, a tradition that encourages attendees to immerse themselves in the culture and practices of the Indigenous host community. This year’s day started with a beautiful sunrise ceremony. The team then traveled to the Ma-Moosh-Ka-Win Valley Trail, where they received cultural teachings from Traditional Teachers. As one of the attendees shared, the Day on the Land was an opportunity to “come together as Indigenous peoples and settlers alike to reflect on the morning’s teachings and to centre oneself in an Indigenous place-making experience.”

    Beyond the Day on the Land, the forum was filled with inspiring events. The team attended talks from acclaimed keynote speakers, including award-winning Anishinaabe journalist Tanya Talaga, and Cindy Hohl, President of the American Library Association. They also enjoyed a screening of the powerful documentary Singing Back the Buffalo by Alberta Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard and engaged in a discussion with Hubbard and Blackfoot Elder Leroy Little Bear. The event also provided space for Indigenous craftspeople and authors to share their work, fostering community and connection.

    The forum was an important space for Indigenous peoples to be in community and to build relationships with colleagues from around the world. As IIT Co-Lead Debbie Feisst put it, “attending IILF together as a Team enabled us to connect in person with Indigenous Library colleagues with whom we have worked virtually for some time, to spend time in ceremony, learn from others’ protocol and to celebrate our work as Indigenous Library and Museums professionals.”

    This experience has already inspired members of the Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team to develop new programs, improve our collections, and build stronger relationships within their community. The team looks forward to imagining new initiatives that are a direct result of the connections and inspiration from the IILF. Questions or feedback for the Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team can be directed to iit@ualberta.ca. 

    This content is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.

    September 22, 2025 0 comment
    6 FacebookLinkedinRedditWhatsappEmail
  • The Indigenous Medicine Garden of Cameron Library: Maintaining knowledge through plants

    by Guest Author August 12, 2025
    by Guest Author August 12, 2025

    When we think of libraries, we often see them as caretakers of knowledge which resides on pages, shelves, and in databases exclusively. However, for the members of the University of Alberta Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team (IIT), knowledge dissemination and conservation have taken the form of a Medicine Garden located outside of Cameron Library. Emerging from ideas of community engagement, with reconciliation and Indigenization efforts at its center 1, the Medicine Garden had…

  • Browsing our collections: Indigenous Healing 

    by Elisabet Ingibergsson June 24, 2025
    by Elisabet Ingibergsson June 24, 2025

    To mark Indigenous History Month, we are shining a spotlight on our Indigenous Healing Collection situated on the main floor of the Geoffrey + Robyn Sperber Health Sciences Library. This collection encompasses works about the peoples of the land now known as Canada, as well as those from regions where Indigenous cultures were overshadowed by processes like colonization. There is more information about the scope and focus of the Indigenous Healing Collection…

  •  National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – 2024

    by Guest Author September 23, 2024
    by Guest Author September 23, 2024

    Monday, September 30 marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (TRC). On that day campus services, including the Library, will close to allow students and staff to contemplate the repercussions of the Canadian residential school system. To support this reflection the Library invites students and staff to take part in the following activities.   Orange Heart Beaded Pin Activity / September 24-27 Orange shirts are symbols which mark the impacts of residential schools…

  • Staff Showcase: Jessie Loyer

    by Eva Romanick June 4, 2024
    by Eva Romanick June 4, 2024

    Welcome to the Library’s celebration of Indigenous History Month! An important strategic goal for the Library is to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing into services and spaces, guided by Indigenous students, faculty, and communities. This June, our blog series will spotlight Indigenous Peoples, delving into their rich histories and honoring their enduring legacies. Meet our new Indigenous Engagement Librarian, Jessie Loyer! Jessie joined our Library as Indigenous Engagement Librarian in March 2024.…

  • Indigenous History Month – Books that will make you LOL !

    by Elisabet Ingibergsson June 1, 2023
    by Elisabet Ingibergsson June 1, 2023

    Over the past few years, we have written blog posts that shine a spotlight on the resources, books and music found in our collections that recognize and celebrate the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. This year, we are taking a look at comedy and Indigenous humour. Linked to years of trauma through colonisation, Indigenous people have used humour for survival. The expression “laughter as medicine”…

  • Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers

    by Guest Author January 27, 2022
    by Guest Author January 27, 2022

    By Kelsey Kropiniski One of the most common ways that we support students in their writing here at UAlberta Library is by offering citation advice. Citation questions come up frequently, and usually when they occur we direct students to the citation guides on our website. From there, we try to find the correct style and format to help students properly cite the source material they’re working with. Sometimes citation isn’t simple. As…

  • Indigenous Futurism

    by Meredith Bratland July 7, 2021
    by Meredith Bratland July 7, 2021

    Grace Dillon coined the term, Indigenous Futurism, a nod to Afrofuturism, to describe work that is centred around Indigenous people and features their ancient knowledge in a futuristic setting. “All forms of Indigenous futurisms are narratives of biskaabiiyang, an Anishinaabemowin word connoting the process of ‘returning to ourselves,’ which involves discovering how personally one is affected by colonization, discarding the emotional and psychological baggage carried from its impact, and recovering ancestral traditions…

  • Indigenous History Month | Indigenous Research in ERA & Aviary

    by Sonya Leung June 15, 2021
    by Sonya Leung June 15, 2021

    As Indigenous History Month continues, now is a great time to explore the over 500 individual items on Indigenous research in The University of Alberta’s Educational and Research Archive (ERA) and The University of Alberta media streaming repository, Aviary. The Situated Knowledges, Indigenous Peoples and Place (SKIPP) Virtual Colloquium took place in the Summer of 2020. SKIPP showcased University of Alberta scholars’ journeys into or with Indigenous-engaged research and scholarship. Streaming videos…

  • Indigenous History Month | NFB Campus’ Indigenous Collection

    by Erin Sanderman June 8, 2021
    by Erin Sanderman June 8, 2021

    Last June, I took readers on a brief overview of some of the streaming audiovisual resources that feature media content concentrated on Indigenous peoples of North America and beyond. Now I would like to take everyone on a deeper dive into one of the resources featured in that original post: NFB Campus. Those of us who spent our formative years in Canada are probably familiar with National Film Board of Canada (NFB)…

Newer Posts
Older Posts

Instagram Corner

No any image found. Please check it again or try with another instagram account.

Categories

  • Collections (241)
    • Borrowing (64)
    • Collection Connection (5)
    • Digital Collections (105)
    • Special Collections (6)
  • Community (441)
    • Awards (16)
    • Events (29)
    • Exhibits (16)
    • News (24)
    • Staff (67)
  • Digital Services (22)
  • Français (148)
  • Wellness (41)
    • Dogs in the Library (5)

BLOG ARCHIVES

About Me

  • Instagram
  • Youtube

@2020- University of Alberta Library
The University of Alberta is situated on traditional Treaty 6 territory and homeland of the Métis peoples. Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᕀᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / Edmonton


Back To Top