The locations represented in these maps demonstrate historic use of areas along the south shore where Lake Superior Ojibwe have enjoyed their existence and continue to do so. Where Ojibwe people continue their lifeways of hunting, fishing, and gathering to support their families and communities, as is their right per Treaty of 1842. Oral histories of elders in the Bad River (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe) community were documented as part of the Works Progress Act of the 1930's and 40's and accessed to provide these accounts. The areas highlighted are in and around the upper peninsula of Michigan: Ontonagon, the Porcupine Mountains, and an area that is sometimes referred to as Copperwood. Copperwood, adjacent to the Porcupine Mountains, is the site of a proposed metallic mine and is represented by the red square in the John Condecon story. The overland trails represented were digitized often using Trygg maps for reference. Where Trygg trails were missing, the routes with the least amount of wetland and water crossings were chosen for travel to receive provisions while routes with the most water were chosen for returning voyages.  All areas represented are within the ceded territory of the 1842 Treaty.    

     The project was initially discussed with Bad River's Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Edith Leoso. Edith had prescribed that we, GLIFWC (Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission), review their collection of WPA documents that describe areas in the vicinity of the Copperwood project for cultural evaluation for the permit process. This was a collaborative project between Bad River's Mashkiziibii Natural Resources Department and GLIFWC.  

     About the Author Cartographer:  Dawn White is a Treaty Resource Specialist, in the Environmental Section of the Division of Biological Services for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. For the past 7 years Dawn, an Anishinaabekwe enrolled at Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior band of Ojibwe, has been assisting tribes in this capacity, mapping and following prospective mineral development projects and their impacts on water resources in the 1837 and 1842 ceded territories.   

     Spring is GIS project time at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. The students in our GIS Applications class spend the semester investigating and mapping real-world geographic issues and problems they are interested in. Past projects include mapping the spread of invasive tree beetle infestations, renewable energy potential, MMIW (missing and murdered Indigenous women), water pollutants, recycling systems, and much more. Some of our students have conveyed their projects into summer internships at NASA research centers, presented at large professional conferences, and won statewide poster competition awards for their work. They have been financially supported with travel money and work-study stipends. Though learning is remote this school year due to the pandemic, a new group of students successfully completed their initial GIS training in the fall and are now developing their project ideas. Like those before them, their projects will undoubtedly make an impact.
     Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is a two-year public community college within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, overseen by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and accredited by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). FDLTCC is a minority-serving institution with a mission of cultural exchange and a strong record of Native American student success. We offer a 60-credit, two-year Associate of Science Degree in Geographic Information Systems, and a 16-credit, two-semester GIS Certificate. Our GIS students gain employable, in-demand skills with the latest geospatial technologies, including enterprise GIS software, GPS, and drone technology. They also learn the geographic and philosophical concepts necessary to use these tools in impactful, culturally responsive ways. For more information about FDLTCC or our GIS program, visit our website, https://fdltcc.edu/, or email Carl.Sack@fdltcc.edu.

Mark My Words
Native Women Mapping Our Nation
Author: Mishuana Goeman 2013
By Adam Fleenor
 
     Dear Tribal GIS community. This is the first of many book recommendations I intend on including in our newsletters. These short endorsements of books are intended to inspire ideas on why we should map and help recognize the full power of your important work. I want to convince you to read the book and reflect on the power of GIS and your role in supporting your community. Speaking of community here is a list of Indigenous-owned bookstores bookstores.
     This read challenges the idea of a map simply representing objects on the land and their proximity to each other. But instead to think of space as intersections of stories so far and meaningful beginnings in supporting the future. Goeman is honest in the pursuit of “unsettling colonial maps” and pulls no punches in equating these maps to violence. She uses the term (re) mapping, meaning “to generate new possibilities” by including new stories that celebrate persistence and bring an action to retelling the story of this land. In colonial times maps were and are made to dominate the history of the land and push aside the thousands of years of stories, and the tellers of those truths, to replace them.
      In this book, Goeman inspires to reclaim those stories and spaces by creating new maps using Native epistemology or ways of seeing the world. For example, resisting hard boundary lines that leave out the seasonal camping. Mapping long trails linking communities where many languages can be heard. The author takes time to explain that maps not only exerting power on the land but also on bodies. This power includes “the settlement, law, policing, and governance – the mechanics of colonial rule…”. There is something empowering about learning the evidence of injustice. It liberates you to work toward the solution and “counter the violence”. Goeman offers many examples of this work and guides the reader to think about “(re)mapping a relationship to land, community, and memory to defy imperial geographies of closure” by decolonizing spatial relationships. This book will bring clarity to the history and a call “to understand what is at stake so that we can make the best decisions in our communities”. This book gave me new ideas about how and why GIS is important to Native society.
     About the book reviewer: I am a graduate student at the University of California Merced where I study how Indigenous communities are leveraging the power of GIS to create Native-centered maps as an alternative to the State map (counter-mapping). I am also on the Education Outreach Committee that produces this newsletter. Please feel free to email me about this endorsement or other books that inspired you to think about why you map. afleenor@tribalgis.com