AUGUST 16, 202
Tahltan Stewardship Initiative | TCG Archives Projec PROJECT CHARTE
1. Project Purpos Phase 1 of the Tahltan Central Government (TCG) Archives Project will result in a physical repository of organized and safely stored records and materials created and accumulated by the TCG and its previous incarnations. The future and final phase of this project will open access to TCG’s records and materials holdings, which will support TCG administration and operations, and facilitate knowledge sharing and reaffirming culture and identity across the Tahltan Nation.
2. Backgroun Under the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI), the TCG Archives Project is a multiphased project that will ultimately result in a permanent TCG Archives office; a key site of information stewardship and governance at the TCG. The TCG Archives Project will create certainty of TCG’s legal, physical, and intellectual management and access of the records and materials in its holdings and of incoming records and materials from internal and external sources. Through traditional archival processes, the project will bring into view the legal, fiscal, administrative, historical, and evidentiary value of its records and materials The continued development of a physical and digital archives, and its policies and procedures, will ultimately open access to a significant holding of records and materials, spanning from the 1800s to the present day, that have been partially inaccessible to TCG leadership, its staff and Tahltan membership. Lack of continuous and adequate funding, changes in Tahltan government’s programming, leadership and mandates, and natural disasters have been the most significant barriers to realizing a project of this scale and scope. Through TSI funding, capacity and project 250 771 327
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management, there is an incredible opportunity to achieve the creation of a TCG Archives Endorsing the creation of an archives makes business sense for the following reasons 1. The absence of a catalogued archives has resulted in the costly duplication of research and data 2. Tahltan Leadership will be able to fully benefit from the value of their documentary heritage by further organization, and building out of access to the TCG Administration and Tahltan membership in an organized, integrated and structured manner 3. There is no centralized records management system at the TCG (each department has their own Sharepoint) and there is no collective knowledge about what records and materials each TCG department creates, receives and stores. Creating an Archives requires inter-departmental discussions on accessing, storing and sharing (managing) data, records and materials that are no longer in active use. TCG Archives has become a site for the development of this type of information management framework 4. There is a data sharing agreement between the TCG, the Iskut Band Council and Tahltan Band Council that is inactive because there is no dedicated entity to make it happen. TCG Archives is poised to implement this agreement in substantial and mutually benefitting ways. The TCG Archives Project will be of benefit to the Tahltan community, who has had variable and inconsistent access to its cultural, linguistic, and historical documentary heritage. Tahltan community members have a range of interests and rights to the data, records and materials held by Tahltan governments. The project will result in a collections management software with structured permissions, allowing members to access collectively held data, records and materials, as well as records that pertain to themselves and their family specifically. Tahltan members’ whom own archival records and materials can be donated or loaned to the archives for safe and secure storage. Tahltan members have some control over the terms of donations and loans, resulting in a mutually benefitting agreement for both parties
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3. Objectives or Goal The TCG Archives Project will help the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative achieve goal 3.2 Build our environmental and archival databases via integration, studies, surveys, digitization and other related projects, especially for culturally significant species (e.g., salmon, caribou). Ultimately this will support ensuring decisions are made based on Tahltan knowledge, worldview and local knowledge. The Archives project will help achieve other TSI goals and has the specific following goals and objectives •
Increase our understanding of our archival collection by conducting interviews with Elders and Tahltan Knowledge holder
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Secure and organize archives in a safe and stable location, ensuring protection from water, fire and other natural hazard
TSI goal 2.2 Expand the TCG Lands, Fisheries, Wildlife, Culture and Heritage, Finance, and Communications Departments •
Build capacity in the Tahltan Nation o
MI: two assistant archivists from Tahltan community are hired and trained in archival processes and information stewardship, and participate in archives developmen
TSI goal 3.3 Develop a standardized system for collecting, recording and sharing knowledge about the land and natural resources in consultation with Tahltan knowledge holder •
Gain legal, administrative and physical management over TCG records and materials, and set out standard operating procedures for archival processes: o
Measurable Indicators (MI): completion of Archives Policy and SOPs for processing physical records and materials
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Develop protocols with other TCG departments, Iskut Band Council and Tahltan Band Council for records and materials transfers and data sharin o
MI: records management strategy / planning document; mutual goals established; work plans developed; data sharing agreement implemente
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Implement policy and SOPs to process physical records and material o
MI: records are housed in a physical archive and cataloged in a spreadsheet
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Gain intellectual management over records and materials with archival descriptio o
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MI: Finding Aids, Subject Indexes, and Archives Catalogu
Encode archival metadata, select collections management software, and upload data to softwar o
MI: collections management software in place, populated with archives catalogue metadat
4. In Scop •
Process the transfer of inactive records from the TCG to the archives repositor
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Facilitate and control digital and physical access of archives by TCG leadership, staff, Tahltan Nation members, and other partie
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Acquisition of records and materials that conform to Archives’ Collections Polic
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Physical and digital processing of acquired records and materials according to SOP
5. Out of Scop •
Storage facility (i.e., dumping ground) for inactive TCG records which do not meet the Archives Collections Policy and were not formally transferre
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For Phase 1, storage facility for loans where TCG does not have any rights to the records on loan until capacity can be reassesse
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Facilitate access to physical or digital archives of persons who do not meet access conditions, including non-permitted researchers or consultant 250 771 327
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Facilitating access of restricted (i.e., private or confidential information) data, especially membership dat
6. Critical Success Factor •
Systematic processing of physical records while assistant archivists are on payrol
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Relationships with TCG department directors to develop appraisal criteria and transfer processe
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Regular meetings with the Archives Committee to guide activities and decisionmakin
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Community acceptance of TCG as the entity who holds and controls access to the archives repositor
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Continued endorsement of project by TCG leadership in event of political shif
7. Linkages/Dependencie •
Link with all TCG Departments on the facilitation of document data transfer from members or other source
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Link with GIS Spatial Database project: GIS technician and archivist to determine link between archival sources and GIS dat
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Link with Membership Department (depends on this project): Shannon Frank and archivist to collaborate on processing membership and genealogy record
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Link with Language Department: director of language dept. and archivist to develop process for records and materials transfers to archives from language departmen
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Link with Multimedia Department: director of multimedia dept. and archivist to develop process for records and materials transfers to archives from multimedia department, and coding and storage of special items such as film and photographs
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Link to Lands Governance Framework and Operational Policies Projec
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8. Resource Name
Role
Duration
Sandra Marion
Director of Culture and Heritage
Permanent
Ursula Abramczyk
Archivist
1-year minimum
Rosemary Loring
Consultant
2-months
Assistant Archivist 1
Assistant Archivist
TBD
Assistant Archivist 2
Assistant Archivist
TBD
9. Key Stakeholder Organization
Represented by Project Interests
Tahltan Stewardship Initiative
Nalaine Morin
Information Stewardship
UBC
Marliese Dawson
Professional experience for a UBC co-op student in a First Nation’s archives
Iskut Band Council
Sally Dennis
Data sharing
Tahltan Band Council
Shanna Dennis
Data sharing
Tahltan Nation
Tahltan community (membership)
Accessing information, knowledge and data; donating/loaning private records and materials
Board of Directors & Leadership
Family representatives, TCG Executive
Accessing archives
10. Project Overvie PHASE
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Deliverable/Milestone
Completion Date
Charter nalized
August 25, 2021
Work Plan complete
September 15, 2021
Phase 1 Summary Report
September 30, 2021
Archives Policy and SOPs nalized
October 31, 2021
Records processed as physical archives & cataloged
February 28, 2022
Archives secured in safe conditions
March 1, 2022
Phase 1 Project Report
March 15, 2022
Phase 2
April 2022
Archives digitized
August 31, 2022
Collections Management Software in place w/ digitized records
September 30, 2022
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11. Risk Assessmen Risk
Probability Impact
Response Strategy
Change in priorities
low
High
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Updating Executive through brie ngs about how important the Archives project is
low
Physical archiving incomplete by Archivist’s contract end
medium
High
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Develop strategy to continue process in Archivist’s absenc Possible extension of Archivist’s contract
medium
Prioritize community outreach to onboard naysayers
low
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Lack of medium community endorsement
Medium
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Residual Risk
12. Budget Description
Cost
2021-2022 Budget
$613,000
13. Governanc The TCG Archives project in under the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative and is governed by the TSI Terms of Reference and Project Charter. The Archives Project Committee is the working group that is responsible for advising and delivering this project
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14. Approval Director or Project Lead
TSI Chair
Sandra Marion
Nalaine Morin
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