This summer marks an important return for us, as we begin the process of resurrecting our original oral history and storytelling programming. Over the past several years, much of our work has focused on expanding partnerships and developing new hubs, but we’ve long known that our core strength lies in gathering, preserving, and sharing stories. To do this effectively, we need to rebuild some of the core infrastructure that supports our work. Following a catastrophic network failure in 2022, our systems have been operating well below capacity. This year, with new projects and team members in place, we are prioritizing the construction of a new database system to house and manage almost 16 years of accumulated research. This investment will not only protect the knowledge we have gathered but also prepare us for the expanded programming ahead.
Alongside this technical renewal, our second major focus area is storytelling itself. Beginning this summer, teams of artists and researchers across Manitoba, Minnesota, Ontario, and Nunavut will be working collaboratively to review, curate, and select material from the extensive body of research we have assembled over the years. Our archives contain terabytes of material, including recorded oral histories, field notes, and community-based research outputs, much of which has yet to be shared publicly. By carefully curating this material, we aim to bring forward stories that have been waiting for the right moment to be told.
The scope of this work is significant. From the Hudson’s Bay Archives, the Library and Archives Canada, the Ontario Archives, and numerous local collections, to our own internal records dating back as far as 2010, we have amassed hundreds of documents and resources that reflect the voices, experiences, and knowledge of communities across the North and beyond. This summer will be about revisiting, organizing, and preparing those stories for circulation, ensuring they are both preserved and made accessible in meaningful ways.
Most importantly, this effort represents a return to one of the areas we value most deeply: storytelling as a central practice. By aligning our digital renewal with community-driven curation, we are creating the conditions to sustain oral history and storytelling as a living, evolving body of work—one that can continue to inspire, inform, and connect for years to come.
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