Whose provenance? Plurality of provenance and the redistribution of archival authority

Abstract

Since the end the of Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Mandate in 2015, archives and archivists are now acknowledging both the role that archives played in the colonization of Canada and the urgent need to decolonize archival practices to accommodate the marginalized voices of those silenced by traditional archival theory and practice. In the case of the archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, these are the voices of the residential school Survivors, their families, and their home communities. These voices have the power to fill gaps in historical narratives and confront the millions of colonial records created by the government departments and religious entities that ran the schools for more than a century. That said, how do we transition from acknowledging our past role as protectors of colonialism’s documented “success” to successfully implementing decolonizing practices? This paper deconstructs colonial records and colonial “truth” to understand the plurality of provenance in archives. This is especially important as Indigenous communities develop their own archives in pursuit of Indigenous data sovereignty and the power associated with archival authority and whose provenance we choose to recognize and preserve.