Mapping and Eco-Activism: Re-Discovering Our Common Ground

by Maeve Lydon

[Reference: Lydon, Maeve. (2000). Mapping and eco-activism: Re-discovering our common ground. Alternatives Journal. Common Ground Community Mapping Project.]

When we are lost, a map helps
us find our way. We can locate where we are and the possible routes we could
take. A map can also point out the important features and assets of a
community. The big question is: Who makes the map? The answer will determine who
decides what is important, what routes lie open to the user, and, in effect,
whose reality counts. 1.

In our culture, mapping is
primarily a professional exercise, carried out by planners, geographers, surveyors and others. Although the purposes
of maps are as numerous as the maps themselves, it’s safe to say that most maps
have been produced to further the
economic and political purposes of the economic and political elite. In Canada, the history of map-making is
intimately tied to the exploration of the land mass and the identification of
resources to be exploited, whether that be beaver pelts, lumber, gold or oil.
Thus, map making, resource exploitation and the conquering of native land have
gone hand in hand since Europeans arrived in this corner of the world.

In recent years, however, a
grassroots movement has sprouted that is using maps and the map making process
to reflect community values and support socially and ecologically sustainable
planning. Community mapping is a partial answer to these question “How can we
make the reality of the whole community and ecosystem count?” In doing so
community mappers are helping to recover indigenous, community-based mapping
traditions.

Maps and Culture

Maps provide unique modes of
manipulation and control. They can decide whose worldview and reality count.
Harley and Woodward in The History of Cartography define maps as "graphic
representations that facilitate a spatial understanding of things, concepts,
conditions, processes, or events in the human world."2. Maps are subjective renderings of place and
reflect the worldview of the mapmaker. Since the advent of perspective geometry
in the 15th century, followed by the rise of colonialism and the Scientific
Revolution, mapmaking in the West has followed a utilitarian, scientific and
technical tradition.

Maps, rather than reflections
of community- and traditional ecological and cultural knowledge - became
possessions and instruments of power increasingly in the hands of those with
colonial and commercial interests. Cartography soon became an indispensable
tool of state and colonial power, while portraying the world with a European
bias. In country after country, maps and the associated approach to territory
served to overun peasants and indigenous
peoples and subjugated their cultures.

Ironically, it was the
indigenous “mental maps”, based on their oral knowledge of territory, that
aided and abetted the European expansion of North America. Mark Warhus, in Another America-Native
American Maps and the History of Our Lands, comments that "unlike Western society, maps were not
created as permanent documents in native American traditions. The features of
geography were part of a much larger interconnected mental map that existed in
the oral traditions. The world was perceived and experienced through one's
history, traditions, and kin, in relationships with the animal and natural
resources that one depended upon, and in union with the spirits and ancestors,
and religious forces with whom one shared existence." 3.

Warhus tells the story of
Blackfoot Chief Ac ko mok ki who drew a
map of the West for the Hudsonís Bay Company. In effect, Warhus remarks, this
was a detailed picture of two hundred thousand miles of North America. Lewis
and Clark used this knowledge for their exploration and subsequent maps of
Northwestern North America. They are considered heroes but little is known of
the key informant Ac ko mok ki or the many other Native American informants
that Warhus documents.

If map-making by developers
and colonial explorers has been a vehicle for the domination of nature and the
vanquishing of cultures more sustainable than ours, then perhaps map-making by
grassroots groups building can help restore the foundations for a sustainable
way of life. A starting point is acknowledging history and the central role of
culture in influencing how we see the land and those around us. If maps do
express our relation to place then community and ecological recovery depends on
re-mapping and re-presenting the worlds around us.

Maps and Community-Based
Recovery

The making of community and
ecosystem-based maps, is now gaining momentum as part of the worldwide movement
for sustainability. At the 1992 United Nations Rio ‘Earth’ Summit, the Agenda
21 initiative was launched by the International Centre for Local Environmental
Initiatives to support sustainable development planning in communities and
municipal bodies worldwide. ICLEI’s Toronto office produced the Local Agenda 21
Planning Guide,4. in which community-based mapping using local and
computer technologies, particularly GIS (geographic information systems) are
identified as key research, community building and planning methods now being used worldwide.

Native American and
indigenous groups worldwide are narrowing the information and power gap, and in
effect transforming power relations between themselves and their former
colonial rulers by creating maps that combine traditional and Western
scientific knowledge and methods. Warhus gives examples of the Hopi, the Ojibwa,
the Zuni and many other native nations that are blending practical knowledge of
the land orally handed down and technical mapping traditions. In Northern
British Columbia, the Gitxsan people are using GIS technology to combine the
traditional ecological and cultural knowledge of Gitxsan elders with modern
ecosystem mapping techniques. Chief Calvin Hyzims of the Eagle Clan, on whose
territory much of the mapping has taken place, was trained and employed as one
of the mappers. Much of Calvin’s ancestral land, which borders the Skeena
River, has been logged, fished and settled despite native land claims to the
area.

Calvin believes there is
great power in a map. "The government won't recognize anyone without a
map. It has been essential for the reclamation of our territory." He
reminds us that their approach to territory did not require written maps.
"Our culture and the elders did not use or need maps as part of their
traditions. They knew who they were and they knew whose land they were on and whose
land they could cross over. To make the maps we walked the trails blazed by our
elders years ago. We found walking sticks, shelters and food storage sites from
the early 1900s. Elders had been living in these areas in 30 to 40 degrees
below zero. We are re-blazing the trails
and this information about our land has been used in Court as evidence of our
title

So what is to be learned from
the historical and modern maps of the First Nations of this territory to inform
and guide community mapping ? Doug Aberley, a pioneer of bioregionalism and
community-based mapping has been very active in First Nations, urban and rural
community mapping processes. In his extensive documentation of community-based
mapping called Boundaries of Home - Mapping for Local Empowerment, he reminds
readers that,

...all human beings originate
from aboriginal cultures. In all of us is some ability to understand
relationships of physical space to survival and evolution of stable community
life. In admiring the maps of aboriginal cultures, the goal is not to copy
others but to rediscover in ourselves a genetic memory of ancient skills. This
is no romantic quest. What we seek is inspiration from those who remain close
to the land - rootedness, spirituality, and the ability to live in complex
harmony with other life." 5.

The Common Ground Mapping
Project – Victoria, British Columbia

There are many stories of
inspiration from around the world where people are paying careful attention to
their own and their community's history
and values. The International Green Map System is facilitating the development
of community-based maps in many of the world's cities. In Greater Victoria, the
Common Ground Community Mapping Project led by a belief in experiential
community-based learning and inspired by the Gitxsan, is facilitating
neighborhood, school and regional mapping projects, including creating its own
regional Green Map.

Common Ground is a
broad-based initiative involving academics, municipal governments, neighborhood
associations, schools, conservation and community groups in the creation of
education and training opportunities, and
in the production of maps and learning resources which lead to community-based
networking, dialogue and action for sustainability. Common Ground is
establishing a resource centre with Lifecycles, the local youth and food
security project, and facilitates training, education and network building
between the neighborhood and school groups.

Common Ground's founders all
bring their specific interest and enthusiasm to the group. Derek Gent, the
manager of community economic development for the local Pacific Savings Credit
Union and a member of the Steering Committee believes “ Mapping processes can
provide a powerful tool for planning and for communication. The main reason I
am involved in and supportive of mapping comes from the potential to very quickly identify assets in a
community and to gain insight on the values behind those creating a map. From
my experience, these elements form the essential groundwork for appropriate
development to occur and for relationships to be strengthened. “

Martin Shore, a retired accountant
and the Chair of Common Ground has personally mapped all the greenways and
spaces in his Gordon Head neighborhood as part of the Green Map process. “I
think mapping is becoming recognized as an underused tool in many aspects of
human endeavour. I think people have become overwhelmed with narrative and this applies particularly to “learned”
papers on scientific matters. A map is a picture that is worth more than a
thousand words”

Neighborhood groups are also
part of Common Ground. In the neighborhood of Fairfield the community
association has created an extensive community mapping and improvement project
called ‘Our Fairfields” which is inspiring other neighborhoods. Mapping
community features and values involves a commitment to social, economic and ecological
sustainability. Their mapping is diverse and includes social interests such as
documenting community history and identifying needs and sites for social
housing, conservation concerns such as locating sensitive ecosystem areas and
expanding green space, and assessing and
creating local economic development by mapping capital flow, home-based
businesses and eco-resources (such as fruit trees).

Earl Levin, a retired
professor and city planner, is the co-coordinator of ‘Our Fairfields’ and on
the Steering Ctte. of Common Ground . For Earl, mapping is an excellent means
to connect community will and political will in the creation of a comprehensive
community plan for the future. As he believes, “Mapping is critical as the
first step and foundation of the community planning process for data-gathering
and to create a community inventory about the existing and historical
situation.”

Creatively involving the
wider community of various ages and cultures is considered critical to the
success of Common Ground’s trainings and annual mapping days where over 100
individuals of all ages and backgrounds have come together to share and
celebrate together. Last year John Elliot from the local Tsartlip First Nation
shared the story of the creation of their own map of the Coast Salish
territory, which includes Greater Victoria. Called the Saltwater People’s Map
it includes the original indigenous place names with a guide describing the
stories behind the land and water forms. His presentation and maps sparked a
great deal of interest by community members and schools who intend to bring
this knowledge to their own mapping work and create a critical historical
bridge with local First Nations.

Conclusion

What can community mapping
offer sustainable development and eco-activism? The stories of the indigenous
and community mappers teach us that it will be up to those who care for the
people and land of their home place to make their own worldviews, their own
maps and realities count. We need to create new maps and theories about the
places we call home, a new terrain not based on conquest but one of caring.
Map-making is a key vehicle and tool for transforming the way we see our world,
our ecosystem, our neighborhoods. Undertaken together as communities, mapmaking
can help us find our way together.

Maeve Lydon is the
Coordinator of the Common Ground Community Mapping Project based in Victoria,
B.C. She is also a Master’s student with the University of Victoria
Eco-Research Chair.

Common Ground is documenting
and networking national and international community mapping efforts.

Notes

1. Chambers, Robert. Whose
Reality Counts?-Putting the First Last. (London: Intermediate Technology
Publications, 1999 ) This book gives an in depth look at participatory planning
and international development. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) is
considered a cornerstone of alternative development with mapping the most
widespread PRA methodology.

2. J.B. Harley and
D.Woodward, eds. The History of Cartography, vol.1.

(Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1987), p. xvi

3. Warhus, Mark. Native
American History and the History of our Land. (New York: St. Martinís
Press,1997), p.3

4. International Centre for
Local Environmental Initiatives. The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide. (Toronto:
ICLEI, IDRC, UNEP, 1996) This book offers case studies of sustainable planning
initiatives around the world. ICLEI now has 1800 local governments in 64
countries involved in their network.

5. Aberley, Doug. Boundaries
of Home: Mapping for Local Empowerment. (Gabriola Island: New Society
Publishers, 1993), p.5. Doug Aberley is a pioneer in linking bioregionalism to
community-based mapping and planning. This book is a primary source for
community mapping information.

Other Books/Resources

Brody, Hugh. Maps and Dreams
- Indians and The British Columbia Frontier.
Toronto: Douglas and McIntyre. 1988

Flavelle, Alix. A Community
Mapping Handbook. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 2000

Harrington, Sheila, editor.
Giving the Land a Voice - Mapping Our Home Places Saltspring Island Community
Services Society, 1999

Looney, John. Mapping
Communities: Place-Based Stories and Participatory Planning in Journal of
Community Development Society, Vol. 29 No. 2, 1998

Lydon, Maeve Mapping: The Recovery of Natural Knowledge
and the Creation of Sustainable Communities
University of Victoria: Eco-Research Chair, 2000

McKnight, John and John
Kretzmann. Building Communities From the Inside Out. Chicago, ACTA
Publications, 1996

Monmonier, Mark. How to Lie
with Maps. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996

Wright, Ronald. Stolen
Continents: The New World Through Indian Eyes Since 1492

Toronto: Viking Press, 1991

Websites:

International Green Map
System - http://www. greenmap.com

Aboriginal Mapping Network
(EcoTrust Canada) http:// www.nativemaps.org

International Centre for
Local Environmental Initiatives - http:// www.iclei.org

Common Ground (United
Kingdom) - http:// www. commongrounduk.org