NABS 2025

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Searching for a Loved One’s Boarding School History? Explore the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive (NIBSDA) to Uncover Their Story. The NABS Digital Archives team has made significant strides to expand the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive by preserving and providing access to vital boarding school records. As a national digital platform and repository, NIBSDA is committed to truth-telling and ensuring survivors and descendants have the resources they need to understand this history and its lasting impact on Tribal Nations.  What Does NIBSDA Do? It serves as a presentation platform for the records and collections that NABS digitizes from a variety of national repositories who have boarding school relevant material. It serves as a centralized hub for hosting a variety of existing digital collections or digital projects from partner institutions such as The Carlisle Digital Resource Center and The Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project by the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation and The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Key Accomplishments in Quarter 1:  5 week-long site visits conducted in Q1 of 2025 to the National Archives at Seattle, Riverside, Fort Worth, and Chicago. Materials digitized include Albuquerque Indian School, Fort Bidwell Indian Training School, Pawnee Boarding and Training School, Seneca Indian Boarding School, and many others. Digitized 80,000 pages of records, which are now in the process of being cataloged for inclusion in NIBSDA. Created approximately 900 catalog records in Q1. Enhanced access to records for survivors and descendants by assisting with community requests for support in locating relatives boarding school records. Revised archival practices to honor our commitment to data sovereignty and strengthen partnerships with Tribal communities. This includes updating our collections management policy and cataloging conventions guidelines.  By exploring the NIBSDA, individuals and communities can engage with historical records that shed light on the past while fostering healing and cultural sovereignty.  As we continue this important work, we invite you to explore the archive, share our mission, and join us in advocating for truth, justice, and healing for Indian boarding school survivors. ARCHIVE: https://nibsda.elevator.umn.edu/

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For any inquiries about the digital archives, please don’t hesitate to contact us at history@nabshc.org.

Call to action: You can make a difference today. Join us in preserving the true history of U.S. Indian boarding schools for truth, justice, and healing. We are racing to safeguard records before access is blocked.

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Thank you for your invaluable support in preserving history and amplifying Indigenous voices. The Digital Archives Team, Fallon Carey (Cherokee Nation), Digital Archives Manager Tsinni Russel (Diné), Digital Archives Specialist River Freemont (Umoⁿhoⁿ/Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Descendant), Digital Archives Specialist