CILIP Changing Lives Seminar Series. Seminar 1: Pride in the Profession (July 21st 2021). Lightning talk: Indigenous Knowledge Centres John Pateman If Truth and Reconciliation are to be meaningful then Decolonization has to be more than a metaphor. Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) is committed to recentering the Indigenous world view. Our work is led and guided by an Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) which represents the needs of Thunder Bay’s Indigenous community. Working with our Indigenous staff, the IAC recommended that TBPL establish Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKC) in all of our libraries. These collections contain materials that authentically reflect Indigenous knowledge, culture and history. These collections are not classified by the Dewey Decimal Scheme which represents a European linear interpretation of knowledge in which every book can have only one place on the shelves. Instead they are categorized using subject headings such as Land, Water and Women which reflect an Indigenous circular view of the world in which everything is interconnected. The purpose of these IKC’s is to ensure that Indigenous culture and history is reflected in the collection of TBPL. They are places where Indigenous people can learn about their traditional customs and languages. Many Indigenous people were cut off from their past by colonial practices such as Residential Schools which were intended to ‘kill the Indian within the child’. The consequence of these genocidal policies has become evident with the discovery of unmarked graves at Residential Schools across Canada. In addition, the IKCs are a resource that non Indigenous people can use to learn about the history of Canada that they were not taught in school.

1. Indigenous Knowledge Centres
Decolonizing Thunder Bay Public
Library

2. Thunder Bay
• Contradictions
• 100,000 people
• Highest per capita Indigenous population
• Astounding natural beauty
• Race Hate Capital of Canada

3. Community Led
• Truth and Reconciliation
• Decolonization
• Indigenous Advisory Council
• Indigenous Staff
• Indigenous Knowledge Centres

4. Indigenous Knowledge Centres
• Indigenous knowledge history and culture
• Indigenous world view
• Traditional customs and languages
• Residential Schools
• History of Canada

5. Democratic Public Spaces
• Owned by everyone
• Free at the point of need
• Shared understanding
• Truth and Reconciliation
• Safe cultural spaces

6. Further Information
• jpateman@tbpl.ca