Cultural and Ancestral Geographies: A Symposium with Streams

On May 25, 2022, the Helmerich Center for American Research will host a virtual symposium on Cultural and Ancestral Geographies from the ancestral lands of the Osage Nation. The symposium convenes scholars, educators, cultural workers, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and Cultural Resource Managers for conversations on maps and mapmaking.

While maps can function to support imperial expansion, settler colonialism and Indigenous dispossession, maps and mapping technologies can also protect ancestral knowledge, resist colonialism and defend Indigenous sovereignty. This virtual symposium takes Gilcrease Museum’s collection of maps from across the Americas as a jumping-off point. Over the long term, it aims to foster collaborative relationships across many areas of practice.

Mishuana Goeman, Ph.D. (Tonawanda Band of Seneca, UCLA), and respondent Professor Norman Akers (Osage Nation, University of Kansas) will give a keynote address. Roundtable discussions will present highlights from ongoing conversations on the history of maps and mapmaking, Indigenous cartographies and the present-day stakes of mapmaking for Indigenous communities. These topics have been explored more fully in professional field or “stream” workshops occurring from January through May 2022. Stream leaders are Dr. Star Yellowfish, Ph.D. (Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), Matt Reed (Pawnee Nation) and Deondre Smiles, Ph.D. (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Settler, and Black).

For more about this unique event, please visit https://gilcrease.org/helmerich-center/symposia/

This virtual symposium is free to the public. Registration is required: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lm3KqozqTYarDZQGP5a8_A