Episode 1

What does mapping mean for Indigenous communities today? What are the main objectives of Indigenous mapping projects? What are the influences of ancestral spatial knowledge and Western colonization in these spatial expressions? Overall, what roles maps and mapping play in contexts of education (of communities, of outside publics) as well as in social and legal contexts? These are some of the questions that have inspired us to create a Web Series showcasing the diverse work of Indigenous communities, activists, artists, and scholars within the CICADA and MappingBack networks involved in Indigenous mapping.

To kick us off, a team from el Resguardo Cañamomo Lomaprieta (Colombia) will explain how they are designing and implementing their own geographic information system (GIS) for the protection and recovery of the Cañamomo Lomaprieta Indigenous Reserve. Their goal is to guarantee access to cartographic information of the territory by and for Indigenous people for management, administration, follow-up and monitoring decisions.