Black history powers the Aboriginal History Archive

The Aboriginal History Archive at Victoria University houses a vast collection of documents, music and photographs from and about Aboriginal Black Power, Land Rights and Self-Determination movements in so-called Australia. Originating with the Foley Collection, collected by Gumbaynggirr man, activist and historian Professor Gary Foley since the 1960s, the AHA has grown in size, been organised and catalogued, and is established and governed by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people. This article outlines the content of the archive and the reflections of First Nations people and non-Indigenous people who work in the AHA. These shared insights of Foley’s collaborators at the AHA into the structure, importance and personal experience of the AHA highlight its unique way of working and how it both documents and continues community know-how and political struggle.