Jiimaan, That Teaching Sister: Practices of Archival Care

Abstract

Abstract:The author reflects on what she has been learning about archives through beginning to work with a wiigwaasi jiimaan/birchbark canoe using traditional Anishinaabe technique and protocol. She articulates a performance practice with jiimaan intended to raise awareness of Indigenous presence in her home territory and the inspirited nature of many beings in archives. She thinks through how this practice enacts cultural reclamation, knowledge transmission to future generations, and critical questioning of archiving practices of performance materials.