Q&A: UW researcher discusses the vital role of Indigenous librarians

Asked to imagine a library, many people picture shelves upon shelves of books, but some types of information don't fit that format. That is often the case with certain forms of Indigenous knowledge, which can exist in many non-written formats frequently not represented in collections, from oral history to beadwork, says Sandy Littletree , a University of Washington assistant professor in the Information School and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. "In libraries the written record has always kind of been the pinnacle," Littletree said. "Like, if it wasn't written, it didn't happen." Littletree was recently the lead author on a study that set out to define Indigenous information literacy through interviews with seven academic librarians who identify as Indigenous. Littletree and her co-authors found that Indigenous information literacy is "the ability to use information and create or gain knowledge, while practicing the Indigenous concepts of relationality, reciprocity and respect." UW News spoke with Littletree about the field of Indigenous knowledge and the importance of Indigenous librarianship. One of your research focuses is Indigenous knowledge. Could you explain what the field is? What are you exploring? What kinds of questions are you asking? Sandy Littletree : You might think of it more as Indigenous ways of knowing - the things that we're doing, the relationships that we have, the accountability that we have to people and places and ancestors, our kin.