WiLS and SLIS partner on IMLS-funded Mukurtu initiative

Mukurtu project partners with WSU faculty and staff

WiLS and UW-Madison SLIS are excited to announce a new partnership with Washington State University to help tribal communities share their digital cultural heritage.

The IMLS-funded Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes: A Sustainable National Platform for Digital Community Archiving establishes five regional training and outreach centers for Mukurtu CMS, a culturally relevant and ethically-minded content management system designed for Indigenous communities.

WiLS and the TLAM (Tribal Libraries, Archives and Museums) project at SLIS are working with WSU along with the University of Hawaii’s Department of Linguistics, the Alaska Native Language Archives, the University of Oregon Libraries, and Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and Yale Indian Papers Project teams to create the regional Mukurtu hubs. Each of these partners will then work closely with tribal archives, libraries and museums to identify their specific technical needs and curation preferences, as well as connecting them to training through WSU.

WiLS staff members Erin Hughes and Emily Pfotenhauer visited WSU for two days of training in early March.

“The histories and heritage of American Indian nations are priceless,” said Omar Poler, outreach specialist at SLIS and co-team leader for the Midwest Mukurtu Hub. “By serving as a midwestern Mukurtu training hub, WiLS and UW-Madison will be honored to support tribes as they document their communities as they see fit.”

With the funding provided by IMLS, WiLS has hired Erin Hughes as Mukurtu Hub Manager. Erin brings over a decade of experience in museum collections care and outreach. She’ll complete her MLIS, focusing on Archives and Records Management, this summer.