Funding to support 25 First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation documentary heritage projects

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023–2024 funding cycle of its Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative.

GATINEAU, QC, Nov. 1, 2023 /CNW/ - Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023–2024 funding cycle of its Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative. In total, 25 First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation organizations will share $1.5 million to support their efforts to digitize and preserve language and culture materials and build digitization and preservation capacity to do so.

The recipients were selected based on the recommendations of an Indigenous review committee, external to LAC and consisting of First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals from across Canada.

• Cold Lake First Nations
• Taku River Tlingit First Nation
• Lyackson First Nation
• Stó:lō Service Agency Society
• Splatsin
• Haida Gwaii Museum
• Kitsumkalum First Nation
• Saik'uz First Nation
• Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre
• Louis Riel Institute
• Gwich'in Tribal Council
• Inuvialuit Regional Corporation 
• The Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq
• Kitikmeot Heritage Society
• Inuit Broadcasting Corporation
• Grand Council Treaty #3
• Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada
• Indigenous Curatorial Collective
• Walpole Island First Nation
• Makivik Corporation
• Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
• Waskaganish Sibi Ayimuweyabi
• Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre
• Office of the Treaty Commissioner
• Council of Yukon First Nations—Yukon Native Language Centre

For project titles and funding amounts, visit the Listen, Hear Our Voices (Contribution funding recipients 2023–2024) web page.

Heritage organizations play a vital role in preserving Canada's local memory. LAC is proud to contribute to documenting, preserving and making accessible to the public a memory that reflects a diversity of experiences, cultures and society.

The Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative is part of the Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives, which were developed in 2017 to increase access to Indigenous-related content in the collections that are in LAC's care and to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation governments and organizations in their efforts to preserve their culture and language materials. 

The mandate of Library and Archives Canada is to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations and to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, thereby contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada. Library and Archives Canada also facilitates cooperation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and dissemination of knowledge and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions

"Congratulations to the 2023-2024 recipients for their remarkable projects and thank you to all the organizations that applied. By actively supporting Indigenous organizations and communities, we contribute to the preservation and accessibility of their languages and heritage, for themselves, all Canadians and future generations."

The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"I congratulate the recipients of 2023–2024. LAC is proud to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation organizations in their efforts to protect and revitalize their language, culture and heritage. As we continue to work together on the path of reconciliation, initiatives such as Listen, Hear Our Voices will continue to support the preservation and celebrate the diversity and richness of Indigenous cultures and languages.

Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

• Since its creation in 2019, Listen, Hear Our Voices has provided $4.7 million to 73 projects across the country.
• The next call for proposals to apply for funding will open in fall 2023.
• In April 2019, LAC launched a five-year action plan that comprises 28 actions to recognize Indigenous rights and increase access to collections in its care. Developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Circle, this plan represents LAC's response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and illustrates its commitment toward implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• To find out more about LAC's progress in advancing its commitments, consult the Indigenous Heritage Action Plan Implementation Progress Report on LAC's Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives website.

• Contribution funding recipients for 2023–2024
• Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative
• Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives
• Indigenous Heritage Action Plan

SOURCE Library and Archives Canada