Canadian First Nations counter-mapping: Community, technology and epistemology

In post-colonial territories there has been an enormous amount of counter-mapping by Indigenous groups. Such counter-maps, as a representation of community/landscape, are frequently used for opposing resource exploitation and for recording cultural heritage. Recent case law in what is now known as British Columbia (BC), Canada, has led to daily requests for mapping/planning proposal responses from Indigenous First Nations groups. Communities tend to produce maps in the format of point/line features uniquely plotted within a coordinate system (as associated with "Western" science), because this is the officially-recognised style outside their community (and often within). However, geographic boundaries, a fundamental aspect of such maps, do not traditionally exist for Indigenous place/space. Furthermore, a Western commodification of land and resources, along with the inability of these mapping practices to reflect Indigenous nature-culture interconnectedness, is at the heart of many mapping tensions. Such tensions include boundary disputes with neighbouring communities, the misuse of culturally-sensitive information and the omission of temporal (ancestral, for example) aspects of Indigenous landscapes.

Coupled with this, there is a lack of mapping research that explores whole mapping processes in detail; i) from initial decision-making on data collection through to map presentation, ii) that considers the interactions of both map producers and consumers with a map as it is being produced/used, and iii) that relates the mapping process to the social context within which it takes place. Without addressing this knowledge gap within Indigenous counter-mapping, mapping tensions will persist since there is no clear picture of how different Indigenous mapping practices and contexts might be related to counter-mapping outcomes. I will address this knowledge gap as a participant researcher, assisting mappers in producing maps within two First Nations groups in BC whilst recording how the work is carried out and evaluating outcomes.

Within this, I will explore how digital mapping processes are related to outcomes; how the interactions between/within people/organisations and digital technology relate to outcomes and how contrasting "Western" and Indigenous knowledge systems (epistemologies) can work together. There is currently somewhat of a separation between technical mapping research and research on the social context of mapping: this project will have an interdisciplinary approach and relates to broader research on the social aspects of data representation in a digital world.

I will use a "participatory action research" (PAR) methodology. PAR has an iterative approach which will allow alternative mapping practices to be trialled i.e. different digital and non-digital methods/design, workflows or organisational frameworks, to include digital methods such as widely-utilised Geographic Information System (GIS) software, as well as alternative maps more closely related to Indigenous systems of knowledge. I will carry out observations of meetings/mapping processes, as well as interviews and focus groups, and also collate correspondence/documentation concerning map production/presentation. Evaluative methodologies will enable the identification of outcomes. For example, how did the mapping meet its objectives, what were other outcomes and what were the strengths/weaknesses of the processes used?
PAR will enable mapping practices to be collaboratively developed and evaluated. The importance of co-created methodologies and knowledges is increasingly being recognised and ethical issues in research in Indigenous contexts are an important aspect of this project. A truly de-colonised, context-sensitive approach is crucial: this research will build on existing Indigenous nonIndigenous mapping collaborations and will also require an active engagement with the broader field of Native Studies and with the Indigenous experience in Canada.