American and Indigenous Studies Program Presents

Finding Keys to Other Doors: Research protocols and investigations in colonial archives

This two-hour workshop will cover two perspectives on a research project formed between Forge Project, a Native-led arts organization, and Bard College Rethinking Place initiative. The collaboration between the arts space and academic institution hopes to uncover the history of the land in the surrounding region over time. This workshop will try to answer the question of the role and use of colonial archives in decolonial contexts.

Using as its starting point the moment of full displacement of the Moh-He-Con-Nuck from their homelands (and partnering with the Stockbridge Munsee Community Cultural Affairs department to share these histories), Frances Cathryn and Lucas Ondak are working to produce a land “narrative” that will answer the question of the origin of New Forge Road where Forge Project is situated.

Frances will share details on the formation of the project, and how Forge will work with the SMC to create a model for replicable research in the future. Lucas will explain the process of finding evidence through primarily local, in-person archival research, the ethical challenges of utilizing archives predicated on Indigenous erasure, and the methodologies and protocols for interacting with them. Participants are then invited to bring their own research projects for feedback with the group in a post-presentation discussion.
 

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For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Olin 107

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