Heikhaus, Claudia

INFO 266

Lilley, S. (2024). Decolonising Maori collections. Journal of the Australian Library and

Information Association, 73(3), 266-279. DOI: 10.1080/24750158.2024.2367775

This article looks at colonization and assimilation practices used to produce Maori resources held by libraries worldwide, and how many of those materials contain inauthentic information and have been written by people with historically western viewpoints. Lilley explores whether it is possible to decolonize Maori collections and replace what currently exists with matauranga (traditional knowledge) Maori material that accurately reflects Maori viewpoints and culture. Additionally, the article discusses the development of Maori subject headings in the National Library of New Zealand, sourced from Nga Upoko Tukutuku (a bilingual thesaurus in te reo Maori and English) that bring a Maori worldview into the realm of cataloging for Indigenous collections.

This article makes important points about whether colonized materials can be decolonized by separating out the Indigenous materials that Native peoples create and essentially creating a collection-within-a-collection, but also how to include many of the “in-between” materials in libraries (written by non-Indigenous people but containing factual information) if those materials are deemed inoffensive and have some redeeming information. This can be a vital part of an Indigenous collection, but the lines drawn are unique to each library and each tribe, and the process of separating colonized from de-colonized collections would be a painstaking and costly process that would require hiring or contracting with Maori people in the community who have the requisite critical information skill set to evaluate research materials and then categorize them according to matauranga Maori traditions.