Statement of Intent

The University of Melbourne Archives (UMA) has significant holdings of Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Indigenous records collected by the University over many decades. These can be broadly described as existing within:

  • University records, including official records and individual papers of academics which detail the University’s history with Indigenous people, in particular the now discredited practice of eugenics, and in the exhumation, theft and purchase of Aboriginal ancestral remains.
  • Non-University records that document the process of colonialisation; for instance, records of settlers, miners, pastoralists, frontier policing, religious ministers, and the business of mining, real estate, law, medicine etc. All colonial records of profit and ownership are also, in part, implicitly or explicitly records of dispossession.
  • A smaller set of records created by Indigenous persons themselves. These have been collected and contextualised by sympathetic but assimilationist individuals and organisations, for example the Victoria Aboriginal Group, the Women’s Christian Temperance Society, and others.

WHAT AND WHERE IS THE ARCHIVE?

For our part, we recognise that traditional structures of describing records in the archive have meant that only a singular colonial perspective has been recorded. This practice has not adequately acknowledged or respected Traditional Owners, the creators, Intellectual and Cultural Property (ICIP) rights, nor has it acknowledged the Countries on which that Cultural Heritage was created and often, speaks from, and to.

Furthermore, archival practice has previously viewed the informational and transactional value of records as having primacy in determining custody, description and access. This falls well short of honouring the inalienable rights in, and to, Cultural Heritage as articulated in The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

We wish to sincerely, and unequivocally, apologise for these failings of our practice. To the ancestors who are in these records, to their descendants, to their communities, and to their Country – we wish to say that we are truly sorry.

We come now with renewed awareness, commitment and responsibility – to change our practice by opening up, and developing pathways into collections, to be inclusive of voice/s, view/s and narratives in our work. We are working alongside Indigenous leaders to reimagine and create systems which recognise Indigenous governance and sovereignty in records, which will facilitate the mapping of complex relationality between entities, events and items, which will ultimately enable dynamic accountability in collection access and use.

DISCOVERY PROJECT 

Murmuk Djerring is Woi Wurrung language for “working together” – it is the title of the University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Strategy (2023-2027) designed over many years by Indigenous leadership. One of its cornerstones is accountable truth-telling and dialogue.

Knowledge of, and access to records is fundamental to truth telling, healing, continuity and renewal. We recognise that knowledge of the archive, and how to navigate it, is itself - power.  The archives’ view of history (in our case, since the 1600s) needs to be challenged. It is but a grain of sand in the ancient custodianship of these lands – a testament to profound knowledge and relationships, in and with all beings in land, sea, wind and sky. We must be inclusive of Indigenous epistemologies, we must serve the human rights in records, be more transparent about our methodologies, engage in open dialogue, and enable pathways into collections and the right of reply.

In 2024 we are working on a dedicated Discovery Project in Archives & Special Collections – this is difficult, complex and important work – a continual journey. This reparative work will be a core function of our ongoing archival practice. Building pathways into archival collections where the relationships between records, individuals and events are articulated, is integral to the process of truth telling and dialogue.

Our intention is to walk it with cultural humility and open hearts. We are committed to collaborating with the Indigenous Collections team aligned with The Place for Indigenous Art & Culture, the Indigenous Data Network, and with our Indigenous colleagues across the University and beyond.

For more information, contact um-archives@unimelb.edu.au