Diversity, equity, and inclusion in metadata practices: the example of Jo Mora’s “Indians of North America”

U T A with star in the center, used when staff photo is unavailable

by Stephanie Luke
November 19 2020

The purpose of The Compass Rose is to raise awareness of Special Collections' resources and to foster the use of these resources. The blog series also reports significant new programs, initiatives, and acquisitions of Special Collections. 

This post was co-authored by Special Collections Metadata Librarian Stephanie Luke and Digital Archivist Kathryn Slover

November is Native American Heritage month. To celebrate, Special Collections at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries will highlight a handful of items that showcase Native American history and culture. One such intriguing piece is Jo Mora’s 1936 poster titled “Indians of North America.”

Jo Mora (Joseph Jacinto Mora) was an American artist who was born in Uruguay in 1876. He worked in numerous mediums as an illustrator, painter, sculptor, muralist, photographer, and cartoonist. He is best known for his pieces that showcase the culture of the American West, particularly California and Arizona. One of the most interesting aspects of Mora’s life is his time spent with the Hopi and Navajo tribes in Arizona. Much of his work takes inspiration from his experiences there. 

Mora’s poster “Indians of North America” was printed in 1936 and measures approximately 32 inches in height and 24 inches in width. The work is largely a graphic representation of numerous Native American tribes. It features many elements of tribal culture, including traditional dress and residences, material artifacts like beadwork and weaving, and scenes of dancing and hunting.

When librarians handle materials like this poster, they must be cognizant not only to the ways in which the item may be historically problematic, but also how library classification and description might reinforce biases if they are not reexamined. As an organization, UTA Libraries is taking steps to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) environment. One part of this undertaking is assessing the ways in which the library’s metadata (things like photographic tags or catalog records) may contain unconscious biases. Although metadata can be a great tool, historically those archivists and librarians who create metadata have not had the perspectives of the people they described. One example of this is the description of indigenous people and indigenous culture in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).

A graphic depiction of the weaving styles of different Native American tribes.

LCSH is widely accepted as a controlled vocabulary for description of archival and special collections materials. These terms are meant to serve as access points for researchers. It is based on the idea that this is the term a researcher would most likely use to search for a specific topic or subject. As early as the 1960s, library and information science professionals began to raise concerns about the implicit and explicit bias in subject headings (Knowlton 124). These subject terms were created by library and archival professionals and not necessarily by the people who are being described. Describing materials this way often negatively impacts marginalized communities because the terminology can stereotype or misrepresent entire groups of people.

For example, the Library of Congress still uses outdated terms like “American Indians” or “Indians of North America” to describe all indigenous people. These are problematic because they are not inclusive to all native peoples and tribes. Throughout the years, members of marginalized communities have brought attention to many of these problematic subject headings and have sought to suggest terms that are more accurately representative. More recently, new subject headings such as “First nations of North America,” “Indigenous peoples,” and “Native Americans” are included in the LCSH. The Library of Congress also suggests using the name of a specific tribe instead of a more general term for all indigenous people. This is just one example of how metadata practices have evolved over the years to become more inclusive.  

UTA Libraries and Special Collections are reevaluating our metadata practices to fit within a framework of cultural competency. Cultural competency can be defined as “the set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support appropriate and effective interaction in a variety of cultural contexts” (Engseth 461). We realize that this work can prove difficult with some of the material we are cataloging. Mora’s poster, for example, presents a set of unique challenges. Although Mora was more knowledgeable about native culture than the average American, he still was not an indigenous person. His views and representations of Native American culture were very much shaped by traditional Western biases that viewed non-Europeans and people of color as either exotic or “other.” Cataloging an item involves recording its core publication information such as author, publisher, and date of creation. These are elements that can usually be objectively determined. Yet catalog records should also include applicable subjects, individuals, demographic groups, and organizations. This is where the cataloger must make a conscious effort to repair the biases inherent in the item and its description.

Title of Mora's poster

The challenges of making reparative revisions is apparent when we examine the subject matter of Mora’s poster. Although he includes depictions of many native tribes, he uses blanket terms like “Plains Indians,” “Northwest Coast Indians,” and “Forest Indians.” This terminology does not reflect the complex social and cultural identities of indigenous peoples. For example, “Plains Indians” alone may collectively refer to over 30 tribes. 

Even today, the Library of Congress is still struggling with these issues. It often falls to the cataloger to make decisions regarding choices about inclusion and accurate representation. Should she employ non-specific LCSH such as “Native Americans” and “American Indians” or the currently accepted terms for such as “American Indian ethnohistory, Plains Indians"? Would it be more suitable to do additional research to identify those groups that the poster depicts? Is the cataloger even qualified to do this research since she may not have expertise in the subject area? 

At UTA Libraries, we are making an active effort to implement reparative revisions in our metadata practices. Although it may prove more time-consuming in cataloging a piece like Mora’s “Indians of North America,” we are dedicated to prioritizing the accurate representation and inclusion of diverse groups. We have ultimately decided to include the standard LCSH for groups, but also to identify and include more specific terms to battle biases and cultural misrepresentation.

Cataloging Mora’s poster is just one example of the type of work UTA Libraries and Special Collections is doing. Although at times this work can be challenging, it is also essential and should be completed to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. It is also important to note that reparative archival and library work is an ongoing effort. Although we have created smaller projects to reach some of these DEI goals, our work must be constantly reevaluated. Reexamining our efforts will be critical to our commitment to DEI practices. To learn more about UTA Libraries EDI initiatives you can visit: https://libraries.uta.edu/about/libraries/equity-diversity-inclusion

Bibliography

Engseth, Ellen. “Cultural Competency: A Framework for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Archival Profession in the United States.” The American Archivist vol. 81, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2018, pp. 460-482.

Knowlton, Steven A. “Three Decades Since Prejudices and Antipathies: A Study of Changes in the Library of Congress Subject Headings.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly vol. 40, no. 2, 2005, pp. 123-145.

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