Library Services to Indigenous Populations
Native American Languages of America
Native American Libraries and Resources
Webjunction
William Yardley
NITI
Outside the Box
New Mexico Tribal Libraries: Bridging the Digital Divide
SEDL

Got to sleep in today. That was nice. It’s been an enjoyable but tiring week. First thing was a visit from Karen Buller, president of the National Indian Telecommunications Institute. She talked to us about some of the challenges they have in assuring telecommunications access to tribal areas. The main problem seems to be that because tribal areas are so rural, phone companies do not feel it is worth while or worth their money to set up towers and phone connections where their aren’t many people. So, access must be gained through wireless or satellite. Not many can afford wireless and satellite can be very slow. Internet access seems to be a major focus since many natives are now discovering what a useful tool the Internet can be.
Later we visited the Santa Clara Pueblo. The libraries we visited yesterday were developing libraries. The libraries we visited today are classified as full libraries. I admired the librarian at Santa Clara a lot. She has worked very hard to obtain grants and funding and has done a wonderful job. They have also implemented a language program. She said an interesting thing about the computer assisted language programs. She seemed a bit touchy about it and said “The computers will not teach our language to our children, WE will teach our language to our children”. The whole philosophy behind a tribal library is so different. The goal for every library is to provide for the needs of their specific community. But the needs here are so different. These libraries are not only being used to educate people. They are also being used to help restore a culture. The ideas of free access and free flow of information don’t necessarily apply so much to tribal libraries either. Because of the circumstances surrounding their history and the exploitation of their culture, Native Americans are sensitive about letting outsiders know about their culture. As a result, certain things within the tribal library are accessible only to tribal members, such as language classes. Yet, they are still considered to be a public library. But in a traditional public library we wouldn’t dream of denying access to anybody. It would go against our code of ethics. But, an entirely different code of ethics seems to apply to tribal libraries and somehow that’s ok because their culture demands that kind of respect. It’s difficult to get my head wrapped around all of this.

Another incredible day. Started out at the Anthropology laboratory/library. Seems very well structured and I really enjoyed the head librarians philosophy. She stands firm on what she believes is best for the library, using a catalog system that is more appropriate for their needs. Next we toured the museums collection storage area with the curator. He was very knowledgeable and it was very nice to get some of our questions answered concerning tribal cultures and ceremonies. He enlightened us a little more on what might have been going on at Jemez during the corn dance. I’m fascinated by the whole combining of traditional Native American religion and Catholicism thing. It’s been a nice relaxing day. The museum is not to far away from our hotel so I didn’t have to endure as much car sickness today.

We began the day by visiting the State Library of New Mexico. We were given a presentation on the services they offered, most specifically for tribal libraries. I was very impressed, even though they indicated that there is still a long way to go before they had reached the level of services they wanted. They seemed most concerned with the digital divide which is still so apparent in many tribal areas. Many still don’t have any phone lines. I was most fascinated with the language preservation programs they helped to offer. As a third cultured child who no longer speaks her mother tongue fluently, language preservation is an idea very close to my heart because I understand all to well the link between language and cultural identity, not to mention personal identity. I’m also fascinated with how sensitive some Native Americans are when it comes to sharing their culture and the difficulties this poses when it comes to language and cultural preservation.
We also visited the archives in Sante Fe. They have a wonderful and very extensive photo collection and a nice collection of historical maps. The photo archivist was a recent MLIS graduate who had just started a few weeks ago. She seemed a little overwhelmed. It seemed like an overwhelming job.
Later in the afternoon we drove to Bandelier National Monument for a Night Walk tour. I got car sick again on the way up, but it was worth it. It was an unbelievable experience. We walked around in silence listening as the ranger recited Native American stories and poetry. The whole thing was so magical. I caught some of the students crying.