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First Nations Community Access to Archives Project Update Report 2024–25Cover and throughout report: The First Nations Community Access to Archives visual story, titled Reclamation, was produced by Amy Allerton, a Gumbaynggirr and Bunjalung artist from Indigico Creative. © Amy Allerton Above: Understanding, Measurement, Evaluation and Learning User Experience Workshop participants and MHNSW staff participating in a Smoking Ceremony led by Dharug Elder Uncle Lexodius Dadd at the Western Sydney Records Centre on Dharug Ngurra (Country). Photo Tim Girling-Butcher © MHNSW Acknowledgement of Country First Nations Community Access to Archives 2024–25 Update Report The First Nations Community Access to Archives team acknowledges that we operate on the unceded lands of First Nations peoples. We acknowledge First Nations peoples as keepers of Languages and Cultures that enrich all our connection to Country and as the oldest Knowledge Holders and first record keepers, storytellers, conservators and archivists of Cultural heritage connected to the lands we live and work on today.Acknowledgement of Country 2 Museums of History NSW First Nations Cultural Statement 4 Message from the Project Sponsor 5 The First Nations Community Access to Archives project 6 Project updates 7 Objective 1 7 Objective 2 12 Objective 3 15 Our impact 20 Next steps 22 ContentsFirst Nations Community Access to Archives 2024–25 Update Report Truth-telling must be led by First Nations people. Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) must recognise that First Nations Communities hold the knowledge, stories and lived experiences essential to fully understanding Australia’s history. MHNSW’s responsibility is to listen, support, and provide platforms that elevate these truths with integrity and respect. The records and places in MHNSW’s care are powerful evidence of Australia’s story – marked by invasion, dispossession and resistance. They are not neutral but reflect the structures of colonisation and the wealth generated through the displacement of First Peoples. MHNSW must commit to reinterpreting these materials and sites through a First Nations lens, in genuine partnership with Communities. This work demands courage and maturity. Real and tangible partnerships must be grounded in justice, recognition and the restoration of agency. They can only be achieved by challenging dominant narratives, confronting uncomfortable truths and walking alongside First Nations Communities, guided by First Nations leadership. MHNSW reaffirms that its role is not as the sole narrator of history, but as a respectful partner in a broader movement for truth, healing and self- determination. First Nations staff, Museums of History NSW Museums of History NSW First Nations Cultural Statement Above: Understanding, Measurement, Evaluation and Learning workshop participant presenting their optimal experience of accessing First Nations records within the NSW State Archives Collection. Photo Tim Girling-Butcher © MHNSW5 MHNSW has a responsibility to listen to, support and enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander narratives that elevate historical truths with integrity and respect. The First Nations Community Access to Archives (FNCAA) project has been enacting this responsibility by contributing to the revitalisation of Languages and Culture to, ultimately, improve our society. The highlights of the project in 2024–25 include securing a commitment to further funding under Target 16 in Closing the Gap, the national agreement, committed to by all states and territories, to deliver on social and economic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This extension of funding enables the FNCAA team to continue their search for Languages and Culture while also allowing them to begin to facilitate Community access to materials found so far. I look forward to the FNCAA team continuing the search for vital information from the State Archives Collection, and for this information to be preserved and to contribute to the reclamation of Languages and Culture. Martyn Killion Executive Director, Records, Archives & Collections, Museums of History NSW Truth-telling and storytelling In its role of enabling truth-telling, the State Archives Collection remains a powerful asset to MHNSW. The FNCAA team has contributed to this asset by centring archival material and narratives from the collection through a series of articles, available on the MHNSW website. See some of the articles we have published in the last year: Languages Alive Advocacy, allyship and the rise and fall of the Aborigines Protection Board Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day Message from the Project Sponsor Above: Photo © James Horan for MHNSWFirst Nations Community Access to Archives 2024–25 Update Report Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) and the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust (ALT) are working in partnership to improve First Nations people’s experience of accessing archival material about their Languages and Culture held by MHNSW in the State Archives Collection. The First Nations Community Access to Archives (FNCAA) project responds to longstanding calls from First Nations people for access to and ownership of government-held archival material concerning First Nations people. Most recently, consultations were held with First Nations Communities and government agencies following the release, in April 2021, of the draft NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust First Nations Community Access to Archives strategic plan. In these consultations the consistent message from First Nations Communities and organisations was that First Nations people should have improved access to material about their families, history and Languages. Government agencies have given feedback that they want assistance to release archival material in a Culturally appropriate and responsive manner. Strong Culture is universally recognised as fundamental to improved life outcomes across the 17 socio- economic target areas in Closing the Gap that concern First Nations people. The State Archives Collection documents the impact of government on First Nations people and includes Language and Cultural materials pertaining to First Nations peoples of NSW. MHNSW provides access to records in the State Archives Collection at an item or series level. That is, MHNSW can advise a member of the public that the collection holds a particular file or a box or boxes of potentially relevant material. However, given the size of the collection, MHNSW is unable to provide a more detailed level of access at a page level. Without doubt, there is valuable and vital information within the collection concerning First Nations Languages, Cultures and peoples that needs to be ‘surfaced’ through a more thorough examination of the archives and then digitised for appropriate access. The project aims to ensure that these materials are stored and then accessed in a Culturally safe way, involving First Nations voices supported by First Nations staff. It also aligns strongly with the vision and mission of MHNSW to reveal and share new perspectives on the past, creating understanding and space for dialogue about the present and the future; and to be trusted custodians who preserve and share the stories of the state through our places, collections and archives. At present there is a very small First Nations archival workforce in NSW and no targeted traineeship or cadetship programs to increase numbers. Project objectives 1. Improve First Nations Communities’ access to archive materials for Language and Cultural revitalisation purposes. The State Archives Collection documents the impact of government on First Nations people and includes Language and Cultural materials originating from First Nations peoples of NSW. 2. Work collaboratively with the ALT to improve First Nations people’s experience of accessing archival material to support Language learning. 3. Build the MHNSW First Nations workforce, particularly with the recruitment of archivists. Having a team of skilled and qualified First Nations archivists working within MHNSW will support First Nations Communities to access materials about their families, histories and Languages in a way that is Culturally safe and secure. The First Nations Community Access to Archives project Facing page: Billy Blue’s and Little M’gill’s language copybooks from the Ebenezer Mission at Lake Macquarie, 1836, found within the Colonial Secretary’s correspondence. State Archives Collection, MHNSW: NRS-906-1-[SZ1000]. Photo Sarah Bunn © MHNSW7 Project updates The purpose of this annual report is to provide an update on the FNCAA project for the 2024–25 financial year in relation to its three objectives. Objective 1 Improve First Nations Communities’ access to archive materials for Language and Cultural revitalisation purposes. The State Archives Collection documents the impact of government on First Nations people and includes Cultural and Language materials originating from First Nations peoples of NSW. The key activities the FNCAA team has focused on are improving access at a Community level through preserving and digitising material, and customising project workflows. What have we found? Several significant records have been identified during search and discovery of the records, including wordlists and paragraphs of First Nations Languages and the English translations. To date, we have checked approximately 15,600 pages from 459 records. Of these, 140 records are considered in scope for the project, and have been identified as relating to 78 AustLang NSW-based codes. Items are considered in scope if they contain Language and/ or Cultural material and the context of the content sits geographically within present-day NSW borders. Items containing mention of First Nations groups or individuals, or Language and/or Culture, that relate to areas outside of present-day NSW are marked as ‘out of scope-First Nations’. First Nations Community Access to Archives 2024–25 Update Report Facing page: FNCAA Supervising Conservator Sarah Bunn conducting conservation treatment. Photo Jacinta Sanders © MHNSW Cultural material has been identified as part of the search. Drawings and descriptions of items such as canoes and shields, ceremonial customs and encounters with First Nations people were often recorded in the journals of colonial explorers and surveyors. We are also uncovering population lists and lists of blankets issued to Aboriginal people. These usually recorded both an English and a Native name, and details such as age, marital status, number of children and tribe. While these lists are currently out of scope, as we come across them we are noting them for future indexing. We understand that uncovering even one Language word can be hugely significant in a Community’s Language revitalisation journey. For First Nations people, our Language is intrinsically linked to our Cultural identity, cognitive and emotional health, and the preservation of our knowledge systems. Language was often the first thing to be taken away from our children. It is a powerful act to be working on a project that aims to open these colonial records to enable Community to access their Language materials, helping them to revitalise and reclaim their Languages and Cultural practice. On 17 October 2024 at the Museum of Sydney, the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust, in collaboration with MHNSW, hosted an engaging panel discussion highlighting the importance of access to archives for the revitalisation of Aboriginal Languages across NSW. Gulwanyang Moran, FNCAA Manager, Kirsty Beller, Projects Manager at the Gujaga Foundation, and Nathan Sentance, Head of Collections First Nations at Powerhouse, shared their perspectives, with the discussion facilitated by Clare McHugh from the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust. To accompany the event, the FNCAA team organised a display of a few examples of impactful Language and Culture materials found in the State Archives Collection. These included Reverend Threlkeld’s translations of biblical verses into Aboriginal Language, and two handwritten student copybooks in Language from 1836. An article published to celebrate Aboriginal Languages Week, ‘Languages Alive 2024’, featured some of the items found through the FNCAA project and their links to records held elsewhere, highlighting the importance of collaboration between institutions to connect material for its return to Communities for Language revitalisation purposes. Preservation of records Primary audience The preservation of archival material identified as being in scope for the project involves a detailed approach. Physical items are not just conserved for safe handling during the digitisation process but are also repaired, where necessary, to allow safe handling by Community, now and into the future. Each document, bundle or volume is then rehoused for added protection and to allow printed content sensitivity statements to be stored with the item, supporting a Culturally safe experience for all who engage with the records in the years to come.9 Capture methods and formats The technical team operates three scanners – two A3 scanners and a large-format book scanner – and an overhead camera capture. The equipment has been specifically chosen to suit the requirements of digitising historical documents and cultural material. The most appropriate device is chosen for each object to ensure the care of the original material. This is consistent with industry standards and ultimately results in high image quality. The workspace – a climate- and light-controlled environment – has been carefully considered for the care of items in the State Archives Collection. This methodology supports our commitment to both the digital preservation and respectful handling of Culturally significant materials. Next >