Archives and Manuscripts Post #4 - Archives as a Tool of Community Betterment

At a few points in the semester, we’ve touched upon the issue of repatriation of archival materials by foreign nations and Native American tribal nations within the United States. Unfortunately, the history of anthropology has a dark past in which ethnographic studies of non-western communities went hand in hand with the theft of community objects and even, human remains. In the case of written, archival materials, the information collected by anthropologists that came to comprise ethnographic studies often solely served to  benefit academia and gave little back to the community of which the scholarly work consisted. A few years ago, I interned at San Francisco State University’s NAGPRA program, which aimed to return the majority of tribally-affiliated objects to California’s Indigenous communities, so these issues remain familiar to me.

Yet, there still remain ethical methods of using archival material that enables community access to written or recorded items. In fact, the archive could serve as a tool of the community, facilitating the storage of materials that might enable the preservation of endangered languages and sacred practices. Yet, this all depends on how the archival institution engages with the community of whose materials they might possess.

One such example of an archive aiming to enable community access and betterment is seen in the International Library of African Music at Rhodes University in South Africa. This archive is primarily comprised of African music recordings collected by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey throughout Sub-Saharan Africa from the 1930s to the 1960s. During this period, colonial governments mandated the teaching of western musical styles and neglected local traditions. This ultimately resulted the loss of these musical traditions in many African communities.

Yet, the International Library of African Music is fighting back against this erasure of community traditions by archiving the majority of its musical collections online and even returning Tracey’s recordings to those who originally recorded the material. The organizers of this project hope that the distribution of these recordings to those who originally made the music might enable a reinvigoration of these musical traditions amongst younger generations within African communities. Examples like this one indicate the uses of the archive beyond the academy and demonstrate its potential as a means to restore community traditions historically neglected by state powers.