WE - DIGITAL ECOCULTURAL MAPPING PROJECT

The Problem

For 171 years, Indigenous peoples of the Salish Sea were erased from ancestral homelands to federally reserved lands. The natural, economic, social, political, cutural pathway of commerce was outlawed. Today, there is Western biodiversity, and not enough ecocultural information, yet we face an ecohealth crisis.

The Solution

WE aims to address this ambiguous loss: heal the people, heal the land. WE's solution maps cultural and biological data at traditional village sites in the Salish Sea to support thriving cultures and ecosystems for all. This map will store Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK) and natural management systems, bringing to life ancestral village sites, camps, reef net locations, and 13 moons food sovereignty through protection and restoration.

WE also uses Indigenous and Western nomenclature to describe and name places and species. The process of gathering this data empowers Indigenous project participants, as well as those who access the digital map, because this work supports language and cultural revitalization. Additionally, this project will generate and provide curriculum materials that are desperately needed to teach regional Native history, culture, governance, and language per Washington state's requirement.

Stats

The WE Digital Ecocultural Mapping Project has engaged approximately 300 participants across student cohorts and language camps.