Traditional Land Use Projects

Hand drawn traditional land use map collected by interviewers in the field.

In recent years many Native communities have undertaken traditional land use studies designed to record and represent the many ways that their people have used the land, at present and in the past. Typically these projects include both oral interviews and mapping that describe hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering territories, plus settlement, residential, and spiritual sites on the landscape.

Compilation map of trapping routes reported by all interviewees.

If your community is planning a traditional land use study, we can provide consulting services to help design the map collection procedures and train interviewers to collect map information in a rigorous manner. Afterward, we can convert field maps into a GIS that allows comparison and aggregation of multiple maps in one space. The combination of dozens or hundreds of maps drawn by individuals can represent the territorial extent of the entire community, and allow other types of analysis only possible with GIS.

We charge $40 per hour and will design the project to meet your goals.

Get in touch with us to request a price quote.