Incorporated in 2010, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums is a non-profit organization that is building on the foundation of earlier efforts that began in 2002 with the first National Conference of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums held in Mesa, Arizona sponsored by the Arizona State Museum and the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records.
Subsequent conferences, workshops, and institutes were held in Phoenix in 2005, again sponsored by Arizona State Museum and the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, in Oklahoma City in 2007 and 2008, sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Oklahoma Museums Association, and in Portland, Oregon in 2009, sponsored by the Oregon State Library.
The programs were funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services with grant awards made to the Arizona State Museum and the Western Council of State Libraries.