Kingston is a beautiful, historic city. At Kingston Frontenac Public Library, we want to highlight the rich history and diverse lived experiences of residents in our region. In 2021, with the assistance of a grant from Young Canada Works, KFPL was able to hire a talented heritage intern to help review and highlight Indigenous resources in the library and in the community. The project focused on updating our current collections, engaging in language revitalization, and recording an Indigenous history of the Katarokwi region.
Language Resources
KFPL worked both independently and alongside the Kingston Indigenous Languages Nest to prioritize Indigenous language revitalization. These efforts include choosing more books and collections that feature Indigenous languages, and attending sessions run by KILN where library staff could highlight and share those resources with Indigenous families.
Updating Collections
Over the course of the project, we worked to find and archive a large number of news articles and documents relating to Katarokwi's Indigenous community. These articles were added into our physical Vertical Files collection, and can be searched for digitally in the KFPL online catalogue.
Some topics included in these files are: Genealogy Research, Sir John A. MacDonald and Indigenous Relations, Southeastern Algonquins and Land Claims, and many more!
Books and Articles
We studied local history books and journals and created an annotated bibliography of books and articles pertaining to Indigenous History in the Kingston-Frontenac region. Visit the Indigenous Peoples page on the DK Research site to learn more about these publications and to locate them easily in the library catalogue.
Recording Oral Histories
Our Heritage Intern reached out to local Elders, knowledge keepers, and community members to ask them to tell us their stories of the Indigenous community and experience of the Kingston Frontenac region. The resulting conversations were recorded and posted to the Indigenous Voices page of the StoryMe project.
Community Involvement
Throughout the project, library staff were honoured to be involved with the local Indigenous community because it is their history we hope to preserve, and the vibrancy of their present and future we hope to highlight. We have been grateful to be welcomed at many events hosted by local Indigenous groups, and will continue offering resources and hosting library events that feature the voices and histories of Indigenous Peoples across Canada.