Do your research first – before you start looking for people to interview! Through background research you can find out what is already known about the topic. You will be better informed when you interview the Elders and you will be able to learn more from their knowledge and skills.

There may be an Elders’ group in your community. Your group could work with them to find experts to interview on specific themes. Different people are experts on different topics. And not everyone is comfortable being interviewed. You could attend an Elders’ meeting or write a letter to explain the purpose and theme of your study. Ask for suggestions about who would be the best people to interview on different topics.

Elders may have several reasons why they want to participate in an interview:

• They may want to pass along a sense of dignity and cultural pride to future generations.
• They may want to talk about the struggles their generation went through to achieve things that the younger generation just take for granted.
• They may think of themselves as ‘stores of information and history’ and want to pass this information along to future generations.
• They may believe that they have interesting and important stories to tell; they want to show their sense of their place in history.

Find out if work has already been done on your theme.

Check with other groups in the community to make sure they are not planning to work on a similar project or have already worked on a similar project.

Elders’ knowledge and time is valuable and the years are passing quickly. You don’t want to repeat projects that have already been completed. If interviews have already been done on the topic you are interested in, you could request completed recordings and transcripts to use in your project.

Talk about your project and ask for Elder volunteers.

You could go on the local radio and ask for Elders who are interested in being involved in an oral history project.

Sometimes the same people are asked over and over again and people who are interested are never asked. Keep lists of people who are experts in different areas.

Respect the roles of Elders.

The oral history team should understand and respect the relationship between Elders and youth. Your group might have an agenda, a project with particular goals, but at times you may have to patiently put aside your goals and let the Elders take the lead. The interviewers should be sensitive to when it is appropriate to ask direct questions or to ask for more details or clarification.