Tuesday, March 15, 2022

History of indigenous mapping

 This CBC story seems like good news about good sense.  The Prairie Climate Centre at the University of Winnipeg produces the Climate Atlas of Canada which "combines climate science, mapping and storytelling to bring the global issue of climate change closer to home, and is designed to inspire local, regional, and national action and solutions,... Various aspects of climate change can be explored using maps, graphs and climate data for provinces, local regions and cities across the country. Plain-language description and analysis make climate science understandable and meaningful."

The CBC story notes how deeply indigenous knowledge and indigenous research and documentation are imbedded into the Atlas. It particularly focusses on the work of Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, a Gitxsan working with the University of Winnipeg, though Silla Watt-Cloutier who is Inuk, and others are also involved. 

This seems like it ought to be absolutely normal.  Not yet.  

 
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