Our Voices, Our Stories: Oral Histories of Hazara Canadians
July 16, 2025
Our Voices, Our Stories: Oral Histories of Hazara Canadians records the experiences of Hazara elders in Toronto and Montreal.
Through community consultations, the hiring of an archivist-historian (details below), and organizational capacity building, the project will lead to the recording of oral histories from Hazara community, whose over 40-year history in Canada remains largely undocumented. This effort will establish critical infrastructure for a sustainable, long-term cultural preservation program that can be expanded across Hazara and wider diasporic communities.
How you can help?
- Volunteer: Assist with community outreach, communications and event coordination. Sign up here.
- Spread the word: Help us reach the Hazara community by sharing information about the project with your networks, online and offline. Share on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.
- Support: As we build this long-term cultural preservation initiative, your donations and partnerships crucially expand the scope and impact of this work. Donate here.
Why this project matters?
Hazara Heritage was founded to preserve and promote Hazara history and culture in Canada and beyond. As one of Afghanistan’s largest and most persecuted ethnic groups, Hazaras have faced systematic oppression since the 1880s, resulting in profound cultural loss that continues today. This work aims to document and preserve the cultural and historical contributions of the Hazara people, ensuring their narratives are accurately represented and valued. The project builds unity, empowers a marginalized group and promotes an inclusive narrative, restoring dignity and acknowledging historical injustices.
Community Consultations
Contribute to our conversations! These consultation sessions are a key part of our oral history project and provide an opportunity for community to help shape how our collective histories are documented and preserved. Each consultation will include a brief presentation about the project, followed by an open discussion to gather feedback, ideas, and reflections. We welcome participation from individuals of all backgrounds and ages. These conversations will play a crucial role in building an accurate and inclusive historical record and in fostering a legacy of belonging, resilience, and cultural pride for generations to come.
Saturday, July 19 at 11 am EST
Monday, July 21 at 7 pm EST
Saturday, July 26 at 11 am EST
Thursday, July 31 at 7 pm EST
Sunday, August 3 at 11 am EST
Register for community consultations here.
This project is led by Hazara Heritage, funded by Library and Archives Canada through the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP), and supported by the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA). Together, we can ensure that Hazara voices are heard, preserved, and celebrated for generations to come.
Now Hiring: Project Archivist
Job Title: Project Archivist Organization(s): Hazara Heritage Project Title: Our Stories, Our Voices: Oral Histories of Hazara Canadians Duration: Early-August, 2025 to mid-June, 2026 Compensation: $35.40 CAD/hour Schedule: Part-time
Description: Hazara Heritage, a registered not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing awareness to and preservation of Hazara cultural heritage in Canada, is seeking a skilled Project Archivist to lead Our Stories, Our Voices: Oral Histories of Hazara Canadians, an oral history project with generous funding from the Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program (2025-26). The project is supported by the Muslims in Canada Archives at the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto in an advisory capacity.
This is a unique opportunity to preserve and amplify the stories of Hazara elders in Canada through ethical practice, community collaboration, and multi-lingual storytelling (English/French/Persian). Additionally, the project builds capacity for a grassroots, not-for- profit organization to gain information management, oral history interviewing, and digital preservation skills to steward their cultural heritage into the future.
Your opportunity: Reporting to and working alongside Hazara Heritage, the Project Archivist will play an integral role in carefully conducting and recording interviews of elder Hazara in Canada with an approach that is trauma-informed and centers community desire and care; oversee transcriptions in English, French, and Persian; apply RAD, Dublin Core and community-oriented controlled vocabulary to describe the generated materials; support any logistics for community consultations, interview sessions, and launch event. You will also gain valuable experience in setting up a community archive, learning to collaborate with community members to understand their archival needs and desires, and balancing archival practices to these needs.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Archival Studies, Library Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- Experience in oral history interviewing, ethical consent processes.
- Proficiency in archival standards (RAD, Dublin Core), metadata creation, digital preservation, and editing audio files.
- Strong organizational skills; multitasker; strong communication skills; ability to work independently and with volunteers.
- Cultural competency and sensitivity to Hazara community narratives is an asset; experience working/collaborating with marginalized communities in similar or differing contexts is required.
- Language skills in Persian (Dari) and French are an asset but not required.
- Ability to travel (across Ontario and Quebec).
- Flexibility to adapt timelines and collaborate with Hazara Heritage and MICA Advisory archivists is essential. The role prioritizes community-centered archival practices and ethical storytelling.
Key Responsibilities:
- Undertake pre-readings on Hazara community histories and undergo onboarding to understand project goals, timeline, and expectations, including training on community-informed archival standards (RAD, Dublin Core), oral history methodologies, and community engagement protocols.
- Support Hazara Heritage recruitment of Hazara elders (in Montreal and Toronto areas) as interviewees via social media, community outreach, and print media.
- With guidance from Hazara Heritage and Archival Advisors, develop consent forms, ensuring ethical practices and informed consent.
- Conduct pre-interview meetings to explain project goals, address concerns, and finalize participation to potential interviewees. Distribute and explain consent forms to potential interviewees.
- Create preliminary metadata and profiles/biographical files for confirmed interviewees.
- With guidance from Hazara Heritage, schedule and conduct in-person interviews with Hazara elders in Ontario and Quebec (travel required).
- Ensure interviewee comfort and adherence to ethical guidelines during sessions.
- Transcribe interviews into English and coordinate with translator, if needed.
- Collaborate with human translators to review/edit translated transcripts (up to 5 hours per interview).
- Submit finalized transcripts and raw audio files to interviewees for approval and incorporate feedback. Edit transcripts and oral history audio files as necessary.
- Apply RAD and Dublin Core standards and community-informed description to describe interviews for deposit at MICA and upload to Hazara Heritage’s website.
- Manage digital preservation of master & access copies and donate preservation files to MICA with advisory/MICA archivists
- Support Hazara Heritage to select interview clips for social media promotion and draft contextual content.
- Support event logistics (e.g., invitations, RSVP tracking) and participate in the launch to showcase project outcomes with Hazara Heritage, Muslims in Canada Archives and other community partners.
Closing Date: 28 July 2025
Interview Dates: 31 July – 2 Aug 2025
Application: Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter as a single PDF file to info@hazaraheritage.org
Work Environment: Mixed (home, community spaces in Toronto and Montreal areas, University of Toronto)
Lived Experience Statement: Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to this position.