Native Land

Native Land is a website focusing on documenting rough boundaries and regions that were occupied or claimed by indgenous groups around the world. These boundaries were determined by a group's territory, as well as language and treaties, and they can be viewed on the map either all together or individually. In addition to the map, the website has a teacher’s guide and territory acknowledgement generator. They also have a blog which posts updates, including potential activities that can be done with the information on the website, how they are organizing their research and moving forward. The website itself was founded by Victor Temprano, but is now led by the Indigenous-led non-profit Native Land Digital. More about the people that comprise that group here.

The teacher’s guide is a great supplementary resource to this map, as it engages with students at a variety of levels and backgrounds, and helps them to recognize the presence and impact of indigenous groups in their area and around the world. Some of these activities include identifying the indegeious land that students live on, and learning how indigenous groups interact(ed) with their environment. The website makes it very clear that the map is constantly being updated and should be engaged critically, in order to not replicate colonialist ideology that can be inherent in mapmaking and the “claiming” of territories. It also makes it clear that the maps are not legal or official in any way, and should not be used as such. In addition to the knowledge about indigenous groups and their languages that this website provides, it also is a good place to start learning about the process of knowledge generation and how indigenous groups and people can come together to document their histories for settlers and indigenous people alike.