In March 1890, three Passamaquoddy leaders and Elders recorded songs and cultural narratives onto 31 wax cylinders. These wax cylinders were the first recordings ever made on Native lands. The recordings left with the researcher who made them and did not come back to Passamaquoddy lands in ways that could be properly heard until 2015.
In this project with Passamaquoddy Tribal and Historic Preservation Officer and Tribal Historian Donald Soctomah, Jane worked with Passamaquoddy language speakers and archivists at the Library of Congress to return the recordings and update the Library catalogue with Passamaquoddy information, and properly attribute the recordings to the Passamaquoddy Nation. Importantly, this included changing the catalogue to reflect Passamaquoddy as the rights holders over the recordings.
Jane, Donald Soctomah, and others discuss the project on this Library of Congress podcast:
This panel discussion at the Library of Congress discusses the Passamaquoddy Wax Cylinders project:
