Library and Archives Canada collects, preserves, and provides access to historical materials documenting the Canadian experience. In 2019, they worked with members of the Indigenous Advisory Circle to create the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Indigenous Heritage Action Plan. The plan outlines 28 concrete actions LAC will take to engage, collaborate, manage, identify, support, and promote Indigenous heritage materials within the LAC collection. The action plan introduces their approach to institutional change and how they intend to fulfill their commitment to the TRC calls to action.
Per the Action Plan (LAC, 2019):
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is committed to playing a significant role in reconciliation between the Government of Canada and First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation based on a renewed nation-to-nation or government-to-government relationship, particularly with regard to human rights. These rights include international Indigenous rights, as defined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a Declaration to which the Government of Canada is fully committed. LAC has an important role to play in ensuring Indigenous rights to culture and language preservation, and in managing information relating to Indigenous peoples. International rights extend to include victims and survivors of human rights violations, as set out by the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles (UNJOP). Through the preservation of information documenting human rights abuses, such as those that took place within the Indian residential school system, LAC supports Indigenous peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why.
Library and Archives Canada. (2019). Indigenous heritage action plan. Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/initiatives/Pages/actionplan.aspx