archival activities - Screenshots of the 90’s: Active Wisdom and Modern Voices

Screenshots of the 90’s: Active Wisdom and Modern Voices is an Indigenous Documentary Heritage project led by Vanda Fleury of Mamawi Apikatetan Inc, in partnership with Jesse Green of StrongFront.tv. This project was supported by Listen, Hear Our Voices (2021 – 2022) and we acknowledge the financial support of Library and Archives Canada.

Mamawi Apikatetan is a Winnipeg based non-profit organization that contributes to the documentation of Indigenous knowledge and memory and their brand of storywork is strengthened by record and object literacy. Together with like-minded folks, they are fostering a digital landscape where First Nations and Métis people connect with local narratives of enduring value.

They worked in partnership with StrongFront.tv, an Indigenous video company that has provided broadcast quality services to clients and organizations since the mid-nineties when skilled training and affordable technology made video production accessible at the grassroots level. The launch of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in 1999 anchored Indigenous voices in mainstream media, and StrongFront.tv was part of that movement.

Screenshots of the 90's was a coordinated effort to preserve a collection of MiniDV tapes, ranging in date from 1996 -1999. It has been 25 years since the oldest community footage was captured and since then, Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers have passed on, cultural practices have changed, communities have transformed, and local archives are emerging or growing. The oldest formats are deteriorating or are at the end of their lifetime. Tapes in the worst condition will not play and are in danger of being lost. Others are viewable but dulled by digital noise.

We prepared 122 culture and language recordings for digitization and identified 22 Indigenous organizations for future partnerships by processing 153 tapes, or 6860 minutes of content. Preparing the video collection for digitization involved playback of each mini DV tape on a Sony Deck, re-labeling it, describing the content, and generating a master authority list populated by crucial themes and information, such as language, location, timecode, etc. Building this framework ensures a solid foundation for future archival initiatives and partnerships with other Indigenous.