Project
Native Land Digital

Project Leads
Mesiah Burciaga-Hameed, Native Land Digital Board
Kyle Napier, Native Land Digital Board
Rudo Kemper, Native Land Digital Board
Shauna Johnson, Native Land Digital Board
Moka Apiti, Native Land Digital Board

Additional team members and contributors can be found at the site.

Project URL
https://native-land.ca/

Project Reviewer
Thiago da Costa Oliveira, Independent Curator and Scholar

Project Overview

Native Land Digital

Native Land Digital is an Indigenous-led nonprofit organization working to counter-map Indigenous territories worldwide. The project aims to enhance the visibility and strength of Indigenous history, and narratives that combat colonialism. Native Land Digital invites non-Indigenous people to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively take part in a more inclusive future. 

Native Land Digital has formulated an Indigenous research methodology, with the intention of future-proofing knowledge from First Nations. The preference is for tribal members and knowledge holders to make contact regarding their territory. The Native Land Digital research team works on territories as advised by the tribal authorities. The team also reaches out to tribal nations when attempting to resolve bigger territory issues. The goal is to open the platform for Indigenous tribal members to update their territories and share news with the community. However, this will be a big undertaking and will take time. This map does not represent or intend to represent the official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, Native Land Digital advises contacting the nations in question.

All updates received require a minimum of two valid sources, including oral history, written documents, or maps sketched by people deemed to be reasonable authorities. In cases of conflicting maps, we opt to be more expansive, to encourage people using the maps to do their own research. Acknowledging there are issues with this approach, a disclaimer must be clicked to view the map. 

Developed by founder Victor Temprano, Native Land Digital uses a combination of technologies to make the site relatively easy to update, access, and share. These include Mapbox (Mapbox GL JS and the Mapbox API), WordPress (along with custom plugins), React Native, and Expo (for mobile apps). The technical process of updating the map involves entries made in WordPress for each individual nation, language, or treaty, including resource links. This is then pushed to Mapbox, from which we refresh our API and public geoJSON on a daily basis.

This open-source Indigenous knowledge bank has a worldwide audience. Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. Staff have worked directly with teachers from all grade levels and collaborated with museum curators, professionals, and students who are utilizing the data for school projects. 

Native Land Digital is a registered Canadian not-for-profit organization with a majority-Indigenous Board of Directors, representing people who have close ties to land bases, communities, and deep knowledge about Indigenous ways of being and knowing. The Board of Directors is further informed by an Advisory Council, consisting of a variety of specialists in mapmaking, GIS, relations with Indigenous communities, and more. The Native Land Digital team members are Indigenous and represent their own tribal communities. Executive director Tanya Ruka is of Māori Ngati Pakau, Ngapuhi descent in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Research lead Victor Sauca is a Saraguro from Kichwa Nation and is located in the southern Ecuadorian Andes. Volunteer coordinator Makayla Rawlins is Payómkawichum and is based in Southern California. Research assistant Emily Haines is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Digital communications and content creator Racquel Banaszak is Anishinaabekwe from Zagwaandagaawininiwag and is an enrolled citizen of Mashkiiziibii based in Bde Ota Othunwe/ Gakaabikaang, MN. Front end developer Will Gutierrez is of Filipino ancestry (Bikol, Ilocano, Kapampangan and Tagalog). All are united in the goal to amplify Indigenous voices.

Project Review

Thiago da Costa Oliveira

Native Land Digital is a non-profit organization led by Indigenous communities, committed to developing and maintaining a counter-mapping platform showcasing Indigenous territories globally. The primary goals are to enhance the visibility and resilience of Indigenous history and narratives, challenging the impact of colonialism. The organization emphasizes that its map doesn't establish official or legal boundaries of Indigenous nations and claims to verify updates with a minimum of two valid sources, including oral history, written documents, or authoritative maps. The long-term goal is to enable Indigenous tribal members to update territories and share community news.

The map interface is a globe presenting a colorful overlap of Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties for users to check. Clicking on a given territorial area prompts the user to access a link, where the page of that territory can be found. This is where the potential to facilitate content exchanges worldwide has the greatest promise. Users can explore information from at least four different fields, enabling them to navigate other platforms of recognized interest in promoting Indigenous territorial rights.

A common feature on the pages is the inclusion of maps from anthropological or ethnomapping works, constituting evidence toward the ambition of creating a counter-cartography. Another relevant feature is the ability to link a given territory to a law or legislative body, enabling users, particularly Indigenous individuals, to track the timeline of the evolution of their territorial rights. This tracking is more prominent for former English-speaking colonies than in other parts of the world, making it a robust characteristic of the platform. A feature that could be improved, especially for South America and Brazil, is the addition of historical information about territories. 

The website employs technologies such as Mapbox and WordPress to ensure easy access and updates. The technical process involves entries in WordPress, which are then transferred to Mapbox via API for daily geoJSON updates. The platform functions smoothly in terms of navigation. There are two noteworthy features for users, especially Indigenous individuals: the ability to track the changes a specific territory page has undergone in the “changelog” section and the option to submit correction suggestions in the "corrections" field, including attaching files to the message.

The Native Land Digital platform has significant potential to reach an increasingly established audience of digital users from First Nations worldwide, documenting testimonies of their territorial rights. Additionally, the information posted by users can raise awareness among current residents of Indigenous territories about the lands they inhabit. As a repository of links posted by other sources, the platform acts as a hub for researching Indigenous territorial rights, realizing important ambitions of interconnecting curated and verified content to its audience.