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- Angela Fitzgerald: I'm touring the State Archive Preservation Facility,
meeting up with Rachel Byington,
Tribal Liaison with the Wisconsin Historical Society,
to learn more about the Care Suite found here.
How are you doing today, Rachel?
- I'm doing well, thank you. - Good.
Can you tell us about the significance of this space
and how it came to be?
- Rachel Byington: The Wisconsin Historical Society
collaborating with Native Nations
to design this space
and really listening to the Native Nations
on how to make a space
that would be usable for their needs.
- Angela: And so, this was a collaborative process
between Indigenous communities
and the Wisconsin Historical Society?
- Yes, exactly.
People could come in here and use the space
for ceremony or prayer or consultations.
And so, any necessary ceremonial or spiritual practices
that need to happen can occur in the space.
And one of the beauties of this space
is that it is on its own venting system.
And so, take for example if, you know,
they needed to burn something,
it wouldn't set off fire alarms for the whole building.
And so, that's a really important feature.
- Can you tell us about your role
and how you support usage of this space?
- Well, I'm the Tribal Liaison
and part of my role
is working on relationships with Native Nations.
So, one of the requests for this space
was minimal reflective surfaces.
And so, this furniture actually is made without any metal.
It's all from the wood.
And the wood itself I want to also highlight
is black ash
and it comes from Menominee Tribal Enterprises.
And it's gorgeous, as you can see.
And then, there are 12 chairs in here
to represent each of the Nations here in Wisconsin.
- And from what I've learned,
there is intentionality about the use of this space.
So, individuals reaching out for more information
should be mindful about that.
And there are possibly limitations on who can access.
- Exactly. - Awesome.
- Thank you so much for your time today, Rachel.
- Well, thank you.