The Voices of Frog Lake project, focused on preserving Indigenous oral history, has received a significant boost with a $180,000 grant from Heritage Canada. The funding will help the Frog Lake Library and archives collect, translate, and record oral histories from Frog Lake First Nation, located about 250 kilometers east of Edmonton. The initiative, led by library manager Chantelle Desjarlais-Fiddler, aims to capture the language, culture, and traditions of the community through interviews with elders. The third round of oral interviews will begin this fall, with the goal of adding them to the Frog Lake Library YouTube page by spring 2026.
The grant will also allow the library to establish a backup system to safeguard the collection from potential disasters like fires and floods and to share it with other Indigenous educational institutions. The archive includes a dozen recent videos, as well as eight older ones from the late 1990s and early 2000s, donated by Elder Larry Quinney.
The project has been emotionally impactful for the community, as it allows families to hear their elders’ stories. One particularly moving moment involved the translation of a video by Elder Helen Smith, which deeply resonated with her daughters. Additionally, the project is shedding new light on the Frog Lake Massacre of 1885, offering a perspective often missing from historical accounts. Desjarlais-Fiddler emphasized that the project is vital for preserving the history and teachings for future generations, ensuring Indigenous voices are never erased.
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