The silences and absences in Botswana’s archives: cross-examining colonial legacy
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Date
2026
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Publisher
Sage
Abstract
Focusing on colonial subjugation, this article examines the gaps and silences in the archives concerning Indigenous knowledge stewardship. Colonialism entangled African countries in colonial structures, including the preservation and archiving of Indigenous peoples’ documentary heritage. As a former British colony, Botswana inherited the British method of archiving histories at the time of independence. Consequently, the national repositories do not accurately reflect the population’s diversity and Indigenous knowledge production systems. This article takes a qualitative research approach by using a literature review to examine the silences and absences in the archives of Botswana. The findings indicate that the absences and silences at the national repositories in Botswana are attributed to factors such as foreign archiving methods, the abandonment of traditional and cultural practices, tribal discrimination and language suppression. Inspired by the concept of decoloniality, the article proposes an inclusive archiving practice that considers the country’s diverse population and knowledge production.
Keywords
Indigenous knowledge, archives, Botswana, colonialism, documentary heritage
Description
IFLA Journal article
Keywords
Citation
Mosweu, T. (2025). The silences and absences in Botswana’s archives: Cross-examining colonial legacy. IFLA Journal, 52(1), 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352251348242