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From the Desk of the Archives Advisor
Michael Gourlie, Archives Society of Alberta
During this year's Institutional Forum, one of the issues discussed by the institutional representatives was the acquisition of multicultural archives, those records created by immigrants who settled in Alberta. While ongoing acquisition of materials is an issue for most archival institutions, the archival records created by multicultural groups pose additional challenges that most types of records do not.
In the ANA database, the term "cultural pluralism" is used less often than most terms, and there are a number of possible reasons why this is the case. Perhaps these individuals and groups form a relatively small percentage of the population, and the archival holdings are in proportion with their population. But it seems equally likely that individuals and groups simply have not deposited their records in an archival institution. Archivists may not have connections with these communities, hampering the ability to do outreach in these areas. There may also be apprehensions about giving up their records and information to an unfamiliar entity that seems like a government agency.
Despite these acquisition issues, an examination of the individual ANA entries shows a diversity of material already acquired by the province's archival institutions. Organizations to assist immigrants and preserve cultural identity have presented their records to a variety of institutions. Records of individual Ukrainian Swedish, Polish, Scottish, and Italian immigrants can also be found. There does seem to be a gap in archival records created by immigrants from India, Japan, China and Middle Eastern countries. One trend seems to be a preponderance of oral history or document collections created to provide some information about these communities. While useful, these collections can only act as a snapshot in time. Unless revisited and updated, a collection would reflect the concerns and experiences of a particular time period rather than the continuum presented by a person's or an organization's archival records.
Even when the materials have been acquired, they must be processed and made available. Few archives have "second language" archivists, who have both the archival skills necessary to work with the records and the language skills to understand the records in front of them. Acquiring a fonds representing four generations of a prominent Chinese family would be a coup for any archives, but, if the archivist cannot read the records, it is impossible to process them and provide access. Providing multilingual finding aids to the records is also necessary to ensure that the material is available to a broad community of researchers. While some groups have established their own archival institutions, such as the Jewish and Ukrainian communities, many immigrant communities will have to rely on another archival program to preserve their records.
Despite the challenges posed by acquisition and processing of these types of records, archivists must make the effort to include these types of records among their institution's holdings. Without these holdings, Alberta's documentary heritage would be skewed, minimizing the important role played by immigrants in building the province. By reaching out and cultivating new donors, and perhaps asking for their assistance in processing the records, archivists will create more representative holdings that properly acknowledge the role and contribution of Alberta's multicultural population.
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