Naming and Reclaiming Indigenous Knowledges in Public Institutions: Intersections of Landscapes and Experience

Abstract: This paper tells a story of a practitionerâ s experience in a First Nations library and how it shaped a doctoral research project on knowledge organization. It connects the landscape on the edge of a pacific forest to considerations of the impacts of the erasures of Indigenous knowledges by dominant knowledge organization systems and practices. The LIS literature on cultural bias in knowledge organization is reviewed and some ameliorative initiatives described. A theoretical lens conjoins the new sociology of education with analyses by Indigenous governance organizations. The potential of LIS research to contribute to the naming and reclaiming of Indigenous knowledges is highlighted and a proposed research plan to contribute to methodologies for Indigenous knowledge organization is outlined