Native Land Digital

Native Land Digital is a registered Canadian not-for-profit organization. We have a majority-Indigenous Board of Directors, representing people who have close ties to land bases, communities, and deep knowledge about Indigenous ways of being and knowing. The Board of Directors is further informed by an Advisory Council, consisting of a variety of specialists in mapmaking, GIS, relations with Indigenous communities, and more. Together, these two forces help to face and deal with many of complex issues that mapping Indigenous territories involves, such as:

— Who belongs on a map of Indigenous territories? What defines “being Indigenous”, especially across time and space?

— How many sources, and what types of sources, are acceptable when it comes to making a map?

— How do we balance “accuracy” of borders with the breadth of an ever-expanding global map?

— How do we engage with Indigenous people and communities to better facilitate self-representation?

— How do we create an organization that represents an Indigenous way of governing?

Of course, the Board of Directors holds ultimate authority in the organization in terms of our goals, priorities, and allocation of any funding we receive.