The “Near North” CUSP-Collections is a university-museum-archives collaboration of scholars, First Nations partners, and museum and archival practitioners from Ontario’s “Near North” (Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850 territory) to make accessible regional collections into one online platform for researchers and the general public, and to provide research into provincial, national and international museum and archival collections on materials relevant to the region.

The “Near North” CUSP-Collections initiative began in 2017 as “the Near North Museums & Archives Network,” a partnership between the Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Histories and Geographies at Nipissing University, the North Bay Museum, the Dokis Museum, and Nipissing University’s Archives and Special Collections. The network now includes the Callander Bay Heritage Museum and Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. Over the next few years, we hope to expand our network by bringing in other regional partners, and various national and international institutions that hold collections related to the region.

The objectives of the online collections database are to (1) digitize archival and museum collections related to Ontario’s “Near North” into one accessible, searchable online site; (2) partner with international, national, and regional museums and archives for access to their collections, standardization practices, student training, and the possibility of digitally repatriating their collections to semi-peripheral regions; (3) produce virtual exhibitions based on digitized collections; (4) act as an archive for funded research projects; and (5) foster interdisciplinary research on the environment in the humanities and natural sciences.

CUSP (Centre for Understanding Semi-Peripheries) is located at Nipissing University, which sits sits on the territory of Nipissing First Nation, the territory of the Anishnabek, within lands protected by the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. We are grateful to be able to live and learn on these lands with all our relations.The project was funded by the Canada Research Chair (CRC) Program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

All rights are reserved by CUSP and contributing organizations. Please contact the contributing organization directly before reproducing.

Contact: cusp@nipissingu.ca for general inquiries. For specific collections related inquiries, please contact the participating organizations directly.