This map should be included in every history book.
Oh wow! I’ve been wanting this for ages!
This needs to be in every history book along with a map showing where those nations have been pushed to now.
(I’m gonna be slightly annoying and show off many pretty maps that are not what was asked for before I get to the map that is what was asked for.)
“One of the most distinctive things about the Native Land maps are the borders….Indigenous identities don’t map (pardon the pun) precisely onto modern European notions of nationality and territory…. Colonialism lives and dies by the map — and the carved-up world is so central to our perspective that many of us today see the earth’s lands primarily as chunks of nations….
The reality is just that borders don’t always function the same as the simplified maps imply when it comes to indigenous history; there is a lot more movement, overlap, and complexity than one nation on each chunk of land.”
The Aboriginal Mapping Network at nativemaps.org is a great site for finding resources (and a whole map community)! They got:
-Global ones like LandMark, an “online, interactive global platform to provide maps and other critical information on lands that are collectively held and used by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.”
-Living Atlases created by nations and alliances like voicesontheland.org, created the Okanagan Nation
-More maps like these ludicrously pretty ones of Hupačasath lands, traditional sites, and place names. There are many, many more, and you’ll probably be able to find your region/people/language. Or just wander around!
-Links to Treaty Maps, this interactive map from the Canadian government, and historic maps like this series, which I like because it covers the early 20th century, which is often taught in classrooms as “After Indians.” Here are more maps of current populations and reservation lands in the United States.
Are none of these quite what you asked for? Yeah—I’m making a bit of a dig, but it’s not against anyone asking.
It’s against the fact that the map in the original post is from the 1970s. The linguistic theory has evolved since then; this is the map currently used in textbooks and even on Wikipedia. And I’m not talking about the level of detail, I mean there have been genuine changes in how scholars think the languages are related, and that has changed our picture of pre-Columbian historical events. It is very bonkers that the first map, which has been around long enough to look super dated to me, has never been taught this whole time.
This is the map you were asking for.
Land cessions animated by @sunisup from maps by Sam B. Hilliard of Louisiana State University, first published 1972.
I’m never criticizing anyone for starting with basic facts. We all should! I’m criticizing every history teacher you’ve had (and school board who limited the teacher, and college that didn’t prepare the teacher, and…) who didn’t do their job of tellin’ you the facts in elementary school, when you deserved to learn.
Facts about Native history aren’t Secret Wisdom. We don’t need a special reason to learn some facts. Native scholarship and Native scholars are thriving, so let’s explore their work, and question why information that exists has been deliberately overlooked so often.
