Indigenous Cartography
   and
 Cartographies of the Indigenous
Native American and Global Indigenous Studies
Timothy B Norris, PhD - tnorris@miami.edu
November 30 2021

 
To Map
   or
 Be Mapped
Native American and Global Indigenous Studies
Timothy B Norris, PhD - tnorris@miami.edu
April 6 2021

Gerhard Mercator, 1569

Mercator, Gerhardus (1569). Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendate Accommodata, New and more complete representation of the terrestrial globe properly adapted for use in navigation.

Why Make a Map? #ColonialView

Tool of Statecraft

as far back as Rome
  • Divide conquered land
  • Reclaim appropriated state lands
  • State revenue (taxes)
    late 16th and 17th C
    rise of capitalist social relations
  • Survey (governance)

Estate map

late 13th or 14th C onwards
  • Profit
    precision, permanence, governance and management of natural resources
  • describe/plot boundaries
  • resolve/avoid disputes
    Tenants, landlords, and between landlords
  • Legal security

Palomino, Diego (1549). Traça de la conquista del capitán Diego Palomino: [de las Relaciónes Geográficas, Provincia de Chuquimayo, Perú]
Kain, R. J. P., & Baigent, E. (1992). The Cadastral Map in the Service of the State: A History of Property Mapping. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Why Make a Map? #ColonialView
Map of the United States of America : with the contiguous British and Spanish possessions
Melish, John (c.1816) Map of the United States of America : with the contiguous British and Spanish possessions. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.ct000820.
Why Make a Map? #ConqueredView
Tahuantinsuyo (the Inca Empire)
  • Claim to original territory
  • Claim to legitimacy
  • Claim to sovereignty
  • Implies government to government relationship
Guaman Poma, Phelipe (1615) Nueva coronica y buen gobierno. Retrieved from http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/poma/titlepage/es/text/?open=id3083608.
Why Make a Map? #IndigenousView??
Mapa de San Juan Tolcayuca
  • Claim to property?
  • Expression of relationship with land
  • Governance
  • "double-consciousness"
Nahuatl Artists (Late 17th C). Mapa de San Juan Tolcayuca (Mexico). Held in the University of Miami Special Collections, on display currently in the Kislak Center.
Why Make a Map? #IndigenousView
  • Gift of reciprocity?
  • Navigation for others
  • Expression of relationship with land
  • "double-consciousness"
Inuit "Kohklux" map, 1869
Left: Kohklux (Shotridge) and his wife (1869), Main trade routes of the Chilkat Tlingit. Davidson Papers Collection a the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. Right: Davidson (1869), Cloth copy of the Kohklux Map (T-2268). Coast and Gedetic Survey Library Archives Collection, National Archives II.
Why Make a Map? #AcademicView?
Native Languages and Language Families of North America
Goddard (1999) Native Languages and Language Families of North America. In Goddard (ed) Handbook of North American Indians V.17, Languages. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.

National Geographic made the map of the US based on translations of place names from their origins in Native American languages.

Why Make a Map? #WhichView?
Indigenous Maps
  &
   Mapping the Indigenous
  • Maps and Power
  • Participatory Mapping/Indigenous Mapping
  • A Few Examples
  • Some Time for Questions and Discussion
Fixico, D. (2004). "Trails of Tears, the routes taken by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickisaw, Creek, and Seminole in their forced removal in the early 19th century." In Fogelson (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians, V14, Southeast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
Maps and Power
MAP POWER
"More indigenous territory has been claimed by maps than by guns. This assertion has its corollary: more indigenous territory can be reclaimed and defended by maps than by guns. Whereas maps like guns must be accurate, they have the additional advantages that they are inexpensive, don't require a permit, can be openly carried and used, internationally neutralize the invader's one-sided legalistic claims, and can be duplicated and transmitted electronically which defies all borders, all pretexts, and all occupations."
Nietschmann, B. (1995). "Defending the Miskito Reefs with Maps and GPS: Mapping with Sail, Scuba, and Satellite." Cultural Survival Quarterly 18 (4):34-37. culturalsurvival.org/defending-miskito-reefs-maps-and-gps-mapping-sail-scuba
Maps and Power
COUNTER MAPPING
“... if maps can be seen as one of many ‘authoritative resources’ that the state mobilizes to consolidate power . . . , then local groups’ appropriation of the technology of mapping may help to counterbalance or at least to offset the previous monopoly of authoritative resources by the state or capital”
Peluso, N.L. (1995). "Whose woods are these? Counter-mapping forest territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia." Antipode 27 (4):383-406. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8330.1995.tb00286.x
Maps and Power
LEGITIMACY
The only legitimate map may be that of the state backed by the power of guns.
Adapted from Wood, D. (2010). Rethinking the Power of Maps. New York: The Guilford Press.
Indigenous Maps
  &
   Mapping the Indigenous
  • Maps and Power
  • Participatory Mapping/Indigenous Mapping
  • A Few Examples
  • Some Time for Questions and Discussion
Fixico, D. (2004). "Trails of Tears, the routes taken by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickisaw, Creek, and Seminole in their forced removal in the early 19th century." In Fogelson (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians, V14, Southeast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
Participatory/Indigenous Mapping
Who Makes Maps
  • Cole, Daniel, and Imre Sutton. (2014)Mapping Native America.
    • Participatory/Indigenous Mapping
    Origins of Participatory / Indigenous Mapping
    • Hugh Brody’s work with several native American tribes and land occupancy mapping in British Columbia (Brody 1982)
    • Harold Conklin’s work in the Ifuago province of the Philippines (Conklin 1980)
    • Robert Chamber’s development work in Africa (Chambers 1994)
    • William Bunge's development work in Chicago (Horvath 1971)
    • Paolo Friere and Participatory Action Research (Friere 1970)
    • Brody, H. (1982). Maps and Dreams. New York: Pantheon Books.
    • Conklin, H. (1980). Ethnographic Atlas of Ifugao: A Study of Environment, Culture, and Society in Northern Luzon. New Haven: Yale University Press.
    • Chambers, R. (1994). "The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal." World Development 22 (7):953-969. doi: 10.1016/0305-750X(94)90141-4
    • Horvath, R. J. (1971). The 'Detroit Geographical Expedition and Institute' Experience. Antipode, 3(1), 73-85. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.1971.tb00544.x
    • Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.
    Indigenous Maps
      &
       Mapping the Indigenous
    • Maps and Power
    • Participatory Mapping/Indigenous Mapping
    • A Few Examples
    • Some Time for Questions and Discussion
    Fixico, D. (2004). "Trails of Tears, the routes taken by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickisaw, Creek, and Seminole in their forced removal in the early 19th century." In Fogelson (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians, V14, Southeast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
    Maya Atlas
    GeoMap - UC Berkeley Geography
    • Participatory Mapping
    • Rights and resources
    • International courts, World Bank, Indian Law Resource Center
    Thanks!
    Timothy B Norris
    tnorris@miami.edu
    Coda: mapping is a human activity. There is no way to express gratitude to all of the people who have supported this work ...
    Fixico, D. (2004). "Trails of Tears, the routes taken by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickisaw, Creek, and Seminole in their forced removal in the early 19th century." In Fogelson (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians, V14, Southeast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
    Participatory Mapping: Las Flores, Barranquilla, Colombia
    https://mapeolasflores.ccs.miami.edu
    point cloud: Chris Mader and Amin Sarafraz
    6 Pages
    81 Questions
    18 Observations
    8Information about the interviewee
    14Building characteristics
    13Socio-economic
    8Services
    14Community and culture
    10Agricultural activities
    11Environment
    18Built environment (observations)
    Signed Consent Form

    Summary of the Door to Door Survey

    2578 buildings edited in the database (100%)

    2414 buildings observed from the street (94%)

    2338 buildings with complete survey instrument (91%)

    2125 buildings with complete survey and signed consent form (82%)

    !?

    Written charter co-drafted by community members, UM CCS and pro-bono lawyers from Tecnoglass

    Data Ownership, Control, Access, Possession

    All data owned by FUMUJEM, except for orthographic images which are co-owned by FUMUJEM and UM CCS

    8 members of the board:
    - 4 from community
    - 2 from UM CCS (UM has deciding vote)
    - 2 from Fundación Tecnoglass

    137 variables in census:
    - 63 are public
    - 62 restricted, and 12 internal

    All data sharing must be voted on by board (actas firmadas)
    - all data under Open DB licenses
    - all assets under CC licenses

    Political Economy of Data
    "As the foregoing makes clear, establishing and maintaining information-sharing partnerships—much less data-sharing partnerships ... is not easy. In absence of active, ongoing efforts to tend communication and to open policy and legislative channels, the default position appears to be closure. As such, it is crucially important to build up formal sharing arrangements and joint data governance structures ... In terms of organizational structure, data partnerships entail co-governance of the data asset." (p6)
    Bruhn, J. (2014). "Identifying Useful Approaches to the Governance of Indigenous Data." The Governance of Indigenous Information 5(2): Art. 5.
    Thanks!
    Timothy B Norris
    tnorris@miami.edu
    Coda: mapping is a human activity. There is no way to express gratitude to all of the people who have supported this work ...
    Fixico, D. (2004). "Trails of Tears, the routes taken by the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickisaw, Creek, and Seminole in their forced removal in the early 19th century." In Fogelson (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians, V14, Southeast. Smithsonian Institution, Washington.