[BCMA] Royal BC Museum and TD accelerate digitization of fragile Nirst Nations audio

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

August 18, 2017

TD supports the Royal BC Museum in
improving access to Indigenous cultural materials
VICTORIA, BC-In the rapid-paced, tech-driven era of texting and Snapchat, people have become used to ephemeral images, voices and conversations, and acclimatized to memories discarded or forgotten seconds after capture.

But technology is also a boon to fragile or intangible cultural heritage, such as the First Nations audio tapes in the Royal BC Museum's collection, which the museum began intensively digitizing with funds from the Province of BC.

Now, a $50,000 contribution from the TD Bank Group will allow the museum to accelerate its provision of access to this First Nations cultural material.

"As so much of this material is of immense significance to Indigenous communities, we are moving as quickly as we can to speed up their long-term preservation and access," says Royal BC Museum CEO Prof. Jack Lohman. "The Royal BC Museum is grateful to TD for its investment in our institution, and its support will help us continue sharing materials integral to Indigenous cultures and communities."

"TD is extremely pleased to support the Royal BC Museum's First Nations Language Revitalization Project which will digitize and preserve hundreds of cassette tapes containing Indigenous languages for future generations," said Doris Bear, Vice President of Indigenous Banking, TD Bank Group. "At TD, we're focused on advancing education, financial literacy and culture in First Nation's communities. We work in partnership with Indigenous communities to support education, increase employment in the banking industry and preserving Indigenous arts and culture."

The Royal BC Museum has been focussed on digitizing thousands of archival records, photos and audio files in the past five years, and TD's support will help expedite the process, specifically for the approximately 4,000 First Nations audio tapes in its collection.

The result will be improved accessibility for people inquiring about the content originally captured on fragile, antiquated reel-to-reel and cassette tapes.

Digitizing the audio allows the Royal BC Museum to preserve in perpetuity the original source material and also makes it far easier to share the knowledge-which the Royal BC Museum does only in strict adherence to cultural protocols.

Individuals requesting access are sometimes descendants of the people on tape. Access to these digitized audio files often helps them connect with cultural content like recorded stories, potlatch songs and prayers that may have been at risk of disappearing because of the fragile nature of magnetized tape.
About the Royal BC Museum

The Royal BC Museum explores the province's human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. We are a hub of community connections in BC-onsite, offsite and online-taking pride in our collective histories.


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Media contact:
Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
250-387-5051
news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<mailto:news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>

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