Question 3: In order to address this question you will need to refer to Sparke’s article, “A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada, Cartography, and the Narration of Nation.” Write a blog that explains Sparke’s analysis of what Judge McEachern might have meant by this statement: “We’ll call this the map that roared.”

Before the settlers arrived in Canada, it was assumed that the land was unoccupied, because of the myth that the natives existed in a “state of nature” (Asch 7). Jurisdiction of the land was considered to belong to the settlers. Accordingly, maps were used to legitimize their colonial world through the naming and division of places according to their own beliefs. The maps helped to perpetuate the notion of a “singular national origin” in which Europeans were chapter 1 of the story of Canada (Sparke 468). This version of idealized Canada, was resisted when a cartographic struggle occurred during the  Delgamuukw case in May, 1987. The Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan  people attempted to gain their national sovereignty by re-mapping themselves into the Canadian story. Their efforts were mocked by Judge McEachern who proclaimed: “we’ll call this the map that roared”. It suggests something that seems threatening, but in reality is very ineffectual.

Sparkes analysis of McEachern’s statement illustrates the irony of the situation. The judge was given something that he should have been able to understand,  but instead it  unconsciously betrayed his illiteracy. The map resisted against colonial cartography through its “roaring refusal of the orientation systems, the trap lines, the property lines, the electricity lines, the pipelines, the logging roads, (…) and all other accouterments of Canadian colonialism” (Sparke 468). He could not locate himself within this un-traditional map, and thus refused to understand this performance. His illiteracy can be traced back to the settlers such as Susan Moodies husband  who “daily consulted (the map) in reference to the names and situations of localities in the neighborhood” (np). Both men’s inability to comprehend First Nation cartography reinforces Asch’s notion that we are chapter 15 in this story of the land. It points to the idea that the land was already occupied with people who had their own distinct and developed cultures. For instance, Susan Moodie describes how when the Indians saw the map “they rapidly repeated the Indian names for every lake and river on this wonderful piece of paper” (Np).  It appears that our stories can never be substituted for theirs, and improvements were made when the  Supreme Court of Canada overturned his decision. and ruled that oral history could be used in trials.

The introduction of the map during the trial can be seen as a form of protest that is described by Nancy Peluso as “counter-mapping”. It refers to the appropriation by local groups of mapping  ” to counterbalance the previous monopoly of authoritative resources by the state or capital” (385-386). Peluso, describes how Indigenous groups in Indonesia mapped forest resources in order to  “control representations of themselves and their claims to resources” (387). In all  cases of counter-mapping, the main goal is to destabilize dominant representations.

The project includes a story for each place.

Closer to home, we have started to see counter-mapping take place in the digital world to aid local communities. In Ladysmith, British Columbia, there have been efforts  to map Indigenous ancestral lands on google earth.  For example, the  Stz’uminus Storied Places Project plots names and places of importance in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. The project aims to aid in the preservation of names and stories  and to assert territorial claims to help solve  an unresolved land claim. The involvement of individuals such as   Stz’uminus First Nation elder Ray Harris ensures that the choices made regarding the maps, is under their control rather than the provinces. Importantly, the accessible nature of these maps through cellphones and computers ensures that the youth will be able to both learn their history and aid in the preservation of their culture.

Works Cited:

Asch, Michael. “Canadian Sovereignty and Universal History.” Storied Communities: Narratives of Contact and Arrival in Constituting Politcal Community. Ed. Rebecca Johnson, and Jeremy Webber Hester Lessard. Vancouver: U of British Columbia P, 2011. 29 – 39. Print.

Hunter, Justine. “Oral history goes digital as Google helps map ancestral lands.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., 11 July 2014. Web. 20 June 2015. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com>.

Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush.. Project Gutenburg, 18 January 2004. Web. 18 June 2015.

Peluso, Nancy. “Whose Woods are These? Counter-Mapping Forest Territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia.” Antipode 27.4 (1995): 383-406. Web. 19 June 2015. <https://gisci.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/peluso_whose_woods.pdf>.

Sparke, Mathew. “A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada, Cartography, and the Narration of Nation.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88.3 (1998): 463- 495. Web. 18 June 2015.