The Listen, Hear our Voices initiative (part of the Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives) provided support to 19 projects by First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation organizations throughout Canada. Fisher River Cree Nation (FRCN) was successfully chosen as a recipient for 2020-2021 and received $22,230 for the Community History Archives project.
From the early 1990s into the 2000s FRCN members interviewed Elders who shared their stories and oral histories. The grant received from LAC is allowing Dr. Winona Wheeler and research assistant Jenny Chomyn to digitize the entire oral history collection, to transcribe them onto paper (some interviews only had summaries), translate where needed, and build a subject/name index catalogue so the collection will be easy to search. The grant allowed them to purchase software for audio editing and digital conversion, an audio converter player, as well as 8TB external hard drives for storage.
Currently, Jenny is digitizing, transcribing, building the catalogue, and adding them to the digital archives on the hard drives. Once they transcribe the English parts of the interviews, they will need some Cree-to-English translating done before the full transcripts of the interviews are complete. Once the entire archival collection is in the digital archive, they will be hosting a mini workshop on how to search for information. They also plan to host a workshop on how to digitize audio cassettes for members who may have old recordings of their Elders they want to preserve. They anticipate the digital archives will be ready by late winter and the workshops to be held in the Spring.
Contribution funding recipients 2020–2021
The Listen, Hear our Voices initiative (part of the Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives) is providing $739,305 to support 19 projects by First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation organizations throughout Canada.
The project list is organized alphabetically by province and city. – https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/initiatives/listen/Pages/funding-recipients-2020-2021.aspx
| Organization | Project Title | Funding | Province | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta First Nations Information Governance Centre | Preserving Blackfoot Stories in Treaty Seven Territory | $24,805 | Alberta | Calgary |
| Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council – Treaty Aboriginal Rights Research (LSLIRC-TARR) Program Archive | LSLIRC-TARR Audio/Visual Collection Digitization Project | $39,480 | Alberta | Slave Lake |
| McLeod Lake Indian Band | Khuda Tsune – preserving our history and culture for the health and wellbeing of our people | $33,810 | British Columbia | McLeod Lake |
| Okanagan Indian Band | Listening to our Syilx Ancestors | $60,000 | British Columbia | Vernon |
| Fisher River Cree Nation (FRCN) | FRCN Community Oral History Archive | $22,230 | Manitoba | Koostatak |
| Nisichawayasi Nehetho Culture and Education Authority Inc. | LHOV-NCN Audio Archival Work | $51,527 | Manitoba | Nelson House |
| Keewatin Tribal Council | Kayas Achanohkewina: Legends of Long Ago | $19,515 | Manitoba | Thompson |
| Indigenous Languages of Manitoba Inc. | Honouring the Voices of Our Relatives | $42,240 | Manitoba | Winnipeg |
| Mamawi Apikatetan Braiding Histories Inc. | Screenshots of the 90’s: Active Wisdom and Modern Voices | $25,000 | Manitoba | Winnipeg |
| Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre Inc. | Honouring Our Ancestors Gifts | $50,025 | Manitoba | Winnipeg |
| Tłı̨chǫ Government | Digitizing the Tłı̨chǫ Audio and Video Archive | $59,500 | Northwest Territories | Behchokǫ̀ |
| Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) | IBC Iqqaumavavut: “We Remember Them” Archival Project | $60,000 | Nunavut | Iqaluit |
| Woodland Cultural Centre | Dwadwęnaga:da:t (We Raise Up Our Words) Digitization and Workshop Series | $25,000 | Ontario | Brantford |
| Beausoleil First Nation Public Library | Our Legacy – Our Home (Digitizing Project) | $25,000 | Ontario | Christian Island |
| Mishamikoweesh Corporation | Kingfisher Lake Language & Culture Digitization Project | $24,600 | Ontario | Kingfisher Lake |
| Chippewas of Nawash Language Nest | The Chippewas of Nawash Anishnaabemowin Digitization Project | $48,508 | Ontario | Neyaashiinigmiing |
| Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute | Promoting Digitisation in Eeyou Istchee | $59,963 | Quebec | Oujé-Bougoumou |
| First Nations University of Canada | “These stories have walked a long way” – Repatriation of Touchwood Agency Tribal Council Oral Traditions | $11,550 | Saskatchewan | Regina |
| Council of Yukon First Nations – Yukon Native Language Centre (YNLC) | YNLC long-term capacity for digitizing First Nations language materials in the Yukon | $56,552 | Yukon | Whitehorse |