Call for Papers and Presentations For the Fifth Annual Vine Deloria, Jr. Indigenous Studies Symposium

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 February 2010 15:27 Written by From Steve Pavlik to Sibyl Diver

Hosted by: Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, Washington – July 8, 9, 10th, 2010

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together Native and non-Native scholars and other tribal people who are interested honoring the life and work of Vine Deloria, Jr., and to present new ideas and/or expand knowledge in several areas that Vine was active in.  The symposium this year will focus on Indigenous philosophy, religion, spirituality, and related topics.  The symposium itself will be organized as a series of intellectually driven panels – no “workshop” type presentations - that address these topics.  Individual presentations may be formal or informal.  Abstracts that include a title and brief description are requested only for the purpose of organizing the panels. The deadline for receiving abstracts will be June 4th. Those whose presentation abstracts have been accepted will be notified by June 7th.

This symposium will be carried out in the spirit of Vine: No PowerPoint presentations will be accepted.
Presenters are expected to pay the $100 registration fee. CFP FORM.

For information on abstract submission, please contact: Steve Pavlik, Symposium Co-coordinator, Native American Studies, Northwest Indian College, 2522 Kwina Road, Bellingham, WA, Telephone: 360-392-4307, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For information on registration and registration fees, lodging, meals, and other logistics, please contact: Angel Jefferson, Symposium Co-coordinator: Telephone: 360-392-4287, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Hosted by Northwest Indian College
Bellingham, Washington – July 8, 9, 10, 2010

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together Native and non-native scholars and tribal elders who are interested in honoring the life and work of our friend, colleague, and mentor, Vine Deloria, Jr., and in presenting new ideas and expanding knowledge in several key areas that Vine devoted his life to. The symposium this year will focus on Indigenous philosophy, religion, spirituality, and related topics.  The symposium itself will be organized as a series of intellectually driven panels – no “workshop” type presentations – and specially invited speakers addressing these issues.  Individual presentations may be formal or informal, but in keeping with the spirit of Vine, there will be no PowerPoint or other electronic presentations.

Registration fee - $100 (includes lunches and salmon dinner) REGISTRATION FORM

Most people fly directly into Bellingham.  Others fly into Seattle and then rent a car.  A shuttle also runs from the Seattle Airport to Bellingham – about a two hour drive.

Bellingham is only 45 minutes away from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  If you are planning to travel to Canada, you now need a passport.

For additional information on registration, lodging, meals and other logistics, please contact: Angel Jefferson, Symposium Co-coordinator, Northwest Indian College, 2522 Kwina Road, Bellingham, WA 98226

_ Fifth Annual Vine Deloria, Jr. Indigenous Studies Symposium

Registration fee - $100 (includes lunches and salmon dinner)

California Tribal Invitation to CalGIS 2010

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Last Updated on Thursday, 04 February 2010 10:28 Written by Lisa Lubley, GISP, CalGIS 2010 Conference Chair

To California Tribal Nations,

Come join us for the 16th annual CalGIS Conference in Huntington Beach, April 18-21, 2010. The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and the CalGIS 2010 Planning Committee would like to extend a formal invitation to all California Tribal Nations to come and experience California’s own GIS Conference. CalGIS 2010 is an incredible opportunity to collaborate and network with fellow GIS and Tribal GIS colleagues and to learn how some indigenous and other various governmental issues are being addressed using GIS.

California’s tribal nations face special challenges in planning, policy, and advocacy. Issues of sovereignty, cultural protection, land use management, and handling mineral rights often require the use of GIS, the production of maps, and the analysis of geospatial data. Recognizing this, URISA and the Planning Committee in concert with the Indigenous Mapping Network are initiating new strategies devoted specifically to the needs and concerns surrounding Tribal GIS activities.

The mission of the Indigenous Mapping Network is to connect native communities with the tools needed to protect, preserve, and enhance their way of life within their aboriginal territories. This endeavor often requires an amalgamation of traditional "mapping" practices and modern mapping technologies.

Due to this new initiative a Scholarship is being offered only to California’s Tribal Nations. Register with the attached PDF form and receive a $150 scholarship immediately applied towards the Conference Registration regular rate resulting in a 50% savings. Attend the various track sessions discussing topics such as Emerging Technologies, GIS Operations, Natural Resources, Habitat Management, Public Safety, and Emergency Response. In addition, the Committee would like to invite your participation in:
•
Tribal Unwind Meet & Greet - Monday, April 19, 2010, 7pm - 10pm
The Fire Pit (Mankota Grill, Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Hotel)
The Indigenous Mapping Network (IMN) would like to invite you to an informal gathering
poolside. Register for this free event at California Tribal & Affiliate Mapster Unwind at CalGIS - Eventbrite.
•
Tribal Roundtable Session - Tuesday, April 20, 2010. 11am - 12pm, Salon E
An open forum among other Tribal GIS peers to exchange your experiences, problems and solutions in applying geospatial technology within your Tribal Government in a collaborative format helping to guide future conferences to specifically address your challenges.

The CalGIS Conference is the one opportunity we have during the year to focus our attention on California-based GIS activities, irrespective of software used, user industry, or other program constraints. CalGIS brings together a wide range of GIS practitioners who are intent on sharing experiences, learning new skills, and networking among their peers.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you there.

Lisa Lubley, GISP
CalGIS 2010 Conference Chair

"Working with Geospatial Data Using Open Source Tools" Mano Marks, Google

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Last Updated on Thursday, 11 February 2010 10:09 Written by Rosemarie McKeon

Review "Clues on the Map: Using Historical Maps to Recreate California Indigenous Landscapes in a GIS" Ruth Askevold, SFEI

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 December 2009 09:18 Written by Melissa V. Eitzel

(Ruth's presentation is in 3 videos on YouTube: Use headphones as volume is low)

On Wednesday November 18th was GIS day. The Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF) celebrated it at Berkeley by co-hosting a series of talks (and refreshments!) with the Bay Area Automated Mapping Association (BAAMA), the local professional GIS organization. One of the talks was endorsed by Indigenous Mapping Network, given by Ruth Askevold of the San Francisco Estuary Institute, on reconstructing historical California landscapes and the concepts of historical ecology. Such study is important not only because these landscapes have been and are very dynamic and complex, but also because native peoples have managed the land for many centuries before Europeans arrived, and reconstructing the pre-European landscape can lead to a better understanding of those management strategies. Many of Ruth's examples for this talk come from one of SFEI's projects in Contra Costa County in the Bay Area (one county over from Berkeley).

Ruth demonstrated the different kinds of historical data collected in the first phase of a project, a process she referred to as “a giant vacuum cleaner;” sources include museums, libraries, historical societies, and the like. I was personally impressed by the wealth of information in the examples she showed to us, including some information on indigenous peoples and places. I was also impressed at how one could geo-register these old maps – that is, place them on the globe and match them up with modern maps. She showed an example of a dense chaparral patch which is where the town of Oakley in Contra Costa County is now: the feature appears consistently on many of the old maps and with some creative sleuthing, they were able to determine what it was. Different sources of data are available from different times; early explorers' accounts depict some early features of the land, and then later as surveyors began “chaining the land” (a powerful phrase, referring to the use of chains of fixed length to measure distances on the land), their detailed accounts provide a rich source of data for reconstruction of the historical landscape. Ruth also points out the artificial nature of the township and range system, including the inability of even the most determined surveyors to map the rugged terrain around Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County (in their records, there is simply an empty spot east of the mountain). All maps are made with subtle biases at least subconsciously (and sometimes consciously!) and historical maps are no different, so care must be exercised in interpretation.

Some of the data sources are old diseños, or sketches prospective landowners were required to send to the Mexican authorities in order to lay claim to the land. Some of the data are the surveyors' records as mentioned above; and some of the sources are old aerial photographs. The project stitched together more than 500 photographs to cover Contra Costa County and located the traces of old stream channels using in part the historical aerial photos created using the  photogrammetry software in ERDAS, a remote sensing imagery processing software. She showed a display of all the data together, a profusion of information which is hard to interpret all at once, and described how ideally each site has many sources; she then showed us the land cover map derived from those many sources.

Ruth finished her talk with a quick review of several other projects and interesting features they have discovered throughout California: a wetland in Ventura, extensive oak forests, and fish ponds which might have been made by humans (the topography would have predicted that they would have been filled in). Many of these features raise questions about how Native Californians would have managed these features, including the dense chaparral which is now Oakley. While Ruth's talk did not answer specific questions about Native management, they showed, as she put it, “Clues on a Map” and are exciting hints of how people interacted with the land before European influence. Perhaps these clues can inspire further conversation with elders who may retain knowledge of these management patterns, or perhaps other historical documents may shed some light on observations of Native management.

It was an exciting talk and we are pleased that Ruth could come and share it with us tonight. The talk was very well attended - I hope that our local GIS practitioners attending GIS day got a chance to think about the history of the landscapes they work with every day, and the importance of Native peoples in mapping, as well as meeting some of our local IMN chapter members.

Melissa V. Eitzel, PhD Student, UC Berkeley, Dept of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Links to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Youtube Videos.