Association of Tribal Archives Libraries and Museums

The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) supports the work of Indigenous cultural institutions, provides culturally relevant programming and services, and promotes Indigenous cultural sovereignty.

The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums will ensure that every Native Nation has

Goal One: Increase public awareness and support of indigenous cultural institutions.

Goal Two: Provide culturally relevant programs and services that meet the specific needs of indigenous cultural institutions.

Goal Three: Study the needs of indigenous cultural institutions, define actions, and build a network of support to address the identified actions.

The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums is administered by a team of highly-skilled executives with over 50 years of non-profit organization and event management. Over the past 18 months, it has partnered with the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM) to establish a fellowship program to prepare emerging professionals for non-profit management. It also trains teams of students in event management during annual conferences.

2020 was a difficult year because we had to cancel our annual conference which more than 1,200 people have come to rely on for training and networking. With support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Native Nations Institute, and the National Endowment for the Arts, we spent the year developing a strategic plan to address the needs of indigenous cultural institutions, including archives, libraries, museums, Native artists, historic preservation, and digital inclusion. Each segment was surveyed, virtual Summit meetings were held, and public hearings will be held in November/December 2021. In attendance at the public hearings will be funders, federal agency staff, congressional staffers, cultural institution staff, and others. The recommended actions will be reviewed and definitive plans developed. We also spent the year working to revitalize the Doris Duke Native American Oral History Collection of over 6,000 recording representing 130 cultures. The recordings will be digitally repatriated to the originating communities. With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we worked with nine Native communities to plan cultural centers. We provided access to architects, planners, exhibit designers, and others and provided virtual training. We are the official Native organizer for the national "Communities for Immunity" project sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. As part of the collaboration, we are working with Native communities to address vaccine reluctance. We are now planning to hold the 14th annual International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums in Washington, DC from November 29-December 1 but have concerns over the emergence of COVID variants.