Indigenous peoples, in Oregon and beyond, are decolonizing maps

The creation and use of maps dates back to the prehistoric ages. One of the first known maps was carved onto a mammoth tusk, depicting the hunting landscape of the Czech Republic’s Pavlov Hills.

But in more recent history, Western mapmaking has largely focused on demonstrating property ownership and reinforcing power structures. That has led to the widespread erasure of Indigenous people from their traditional lands.

Now, Indigenous cartographers are actively working to counter that erasure by decolonizing maps.

“The cartographies of empire have been instrumental in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples of the lands they have called home since time immemorial,” reads a recent essay in the journal “Cartographica.”

Natchee Barnd, an associate professor of ethnic studies at Oregon State University, co-wrote the essay. It introduces a collection highlighting Indigenous map work being done in North America and elsewhere.

In Oregon, “The reason why Lewis and Clark are known, and the thing that we celebrate them for, was [mapping] out those territories they were claiming and preparing to claim, and then were going to … exploit and settle and farm and build on,” Barnd said.