Project Information
About
The Smoke Signals Radio Archive Project was formally launched in 2019. Its purpose is to pay tribute to Dan and Mary Lou Smoke and to highlight their impactful work at Western University and in the broader community. The Smokes are well known at Western as both teachers, and hosts of the long-running Smoke Signals radio program.
The archiving project revolves around a collection of audio recordings of the Smoke Signals radio show dating back to the early 1990s when it began airing on Western University’s campus radio station. The Smokes have donated this wealth of recordings to be organized, archived, studied and made accessible to others.
Current and Past Project Team Members
The Smoke Signals Radio Archive Project is being conducted by students and staff at Western, including Dan Smoke and Mary Lou Smoke, who are research partners on the project. We also acknowledge outstanding and ongoing support from the Faculty of Information & Media Studies and the FIMS Graduate Library.
- Rachel Anderson, MLIS student, FIMS
- Jacob Anstey, Audio Technician, FIMS
- Janice Forsyth, Associate Professor Sociology and Director of First Nations Studies
- Amy Hadley, MLIS student, FIMS
- Marni Harrington, Associate Librarian and Library Director, FIMS Graduate Library
- Heather Hill, Associate Professor, FIMS
- Jasmine Li, MLIS student, FIMS
- Charlotte McClellan, Technical Advisor, FIMS
- Serena Mendizabal, undergraduate student, FIMS and First Nations Studies
- Oreofe Ogunlude, undergraduate Work Study position
- Danica Pawlick-Potts, PhD candidate, FIMS
- Paulette Rothbauer, Associate Professor, FIMS
- Dan Smoke, Adjunct Professor, First Nations Studies
- Mary Lou Smoke, Adjunct Professor, First Nations Studies
- Carolynn Whiteouse, MLIS co-op student, FIMS
- Hailey Zanth, MLIS student, FIMS
- Shirley Zhang, undergraduate Work Study position
Funding
2021-2022 - FIMS Initiative Funding enabled us to hire additional MLIS students to assist with developing the Omeka site and to continue the important work of transcription. Western Work Study students joined our team this year as well.
2019-2020 - Initial funding for the project was provided through the FIMS Undergraduate/Graduate Fellowship Program, which supported the work of two Indigenous students who worked with the audiocassette donation, organizing and describing the cassette sleeves, cases, and other physical trace elements.
2019 - The Faculty of Social Science also graciously donated money toward the cost of digitizing the audiocassettes.
Digitization
- Dave Pascoe, Flume Media Archiving
In the News
- Ferguson, K. (2022). "Archive project preserves iconic Indigenous radio program." Western News, 21 June 2022.
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Western University. (2019). "Smoke Signals" Radio Archives Project gets underway.
Publications
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Rothbauer P., A. Hadley, M. Harrington, H. Hill, S. Mendizabal, D. Pawlick-Potts, D. Smoke, and M. Smoke. "Smoke Signals Radio Show Archives: An Introduction." KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.131.
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Hadley, A., M. Harrington, H. Hill, S. Mendizabal, D. Pawlick-Potts, P. Rothbauer, D. Smoke, and M. Smoke. "Listening Together to a Smoke Signals Radio Show Transcript: Responsibility, Reciprocity, Relationships, and Community." accepted paper to Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL), London ON (June 2020 - Conference canceled).
Contact
- Paulette Rothbauer, Project Co-Lead
- Marni Harrington, Project Co-Lead