Archivist Philip Pype provides an update to public services committee members during a public meeting Monday.-NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
The city’s archivist shared efforts to provide more access to historical records and documents to the community, as well as increasing archival diversity during a presentation to members of the public services committee Monday.
Philip Pype told committee members that over the past few years Medicine Hat’s Archives Reference Service, located in the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre, has been actively working to increase and locate historical records and data around local Indigenous, LGBTQIA+ and Hutterite communities and make it easier for the community to access these records.
Pype explained knowledge surrounding the poor treatment of Indigenous groups and residential schools was widely known within the ‘historical’ community long before it met the public sphere, driving more action toward truth and reconciliation.
Recently the archive team has been able to participate in a consultation process with the Indigenous Reburial Project, a partnership between the city, Miywasin Friendship Centre and the University of Alberta to rebury the remains and associated burial artefacts of three ancestors in their original resting place.
Pype says by attending community sessions they have been able to encourage members of the community to share their history to remain fresh over time.
“Whether through official channels with the city, with the archives, with the University of Alberta,” said Pype. “If they’re not comfortable with that … a lot of what I’m talking about today is building trust and relationships, to share knowledge and perspective with family, neighbours and friends.”
Pype said the archives have been able to use AI to help transcribe a series of oral histories that were done with the Metis community in the 1980s and have been able to make the recording accessible online.
Since COVID the archives have also identified approximately 1,400 photographs with descriptions within the city’s collection that had Indigenous context and updated “very much outdated” language.
“This has enabled much easier access to some of that material,” explained Pype.
Roughly 200 images were identified to show members of the Nekaneet First Nation, about 30 kilometres south of Maple Creek.
“Working with mutual friends and colleagues, our goal is to get those photographs to the band, figure out what works with the band, if there’s interest in getting names to faces, making sure that we get the context properly recorded,” said Pype.
This year the archive worked its Hutterite outreach project to curate an exhibit of photos taken between the 1950s to ’80s featuring the Cypress Colony by working with Maple Creek’s historical centre.
The collection of photos has been examined by representatives from the colony to authenticate and make sure photos were exhibited in an appropriate manner.
“The feedback we’ve gotten from the general community as well as the Hutterite community has been very positive.”
Pype also spoke about the “Thompson Collection.” a series of records by Charlie Thompson, an openly gay man in Medicine Hat in the 1970s that has been completely digitized.
“He kept a scrapbook on everything from the AIDS crisis to suicide in the gay community to some very heartwarming material as well,” explained Pype. “So it creates great insight. He also is very much involved with the United Church, discussions about ordination of gay ministers in the 1980s, so a lot of conversations (are) happening.”
Pype also updated the committee on the archives’ work preserving the records of people with developmental disabilities. “It’s a bit of a passion of mine personally.”
The team has had discussions with officials from CORE and REDI about increasing representation.
The archives have also received a couple of scrapbooks from children with disabilities following a 40th anniversary at George P. Vanier School.
“But of course, we have to be very aware of things like protection of privacy when it comes to things like medical information and FOIP concerns. Also in archives we feel it is important that people be able to represent themselves … Trust building is very much key to what we do in archives.”
Coun. Robert Dumanowski says it’s important to make sure the city maintains a comprehensive record of its history and applauded the team’s efforts to broaden diversity by highlighting underrepresented communities’ stories.
“I love history, I love understand histories, being able to read it and have the interpretation of it there,” said Dumanowski.
Medicine Hat’s archives have been shared for more than 70 years. Its collection of more than 50,000 images, oral histories and audio visual records be accessed online at collections.esplanade.ca.
