{"id":1070101,"date":"2020-12-08T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=1070101"},"modified":"2020-12-08T07:42:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T15:42:24","slug":"documenting-oral-history-through-maps-and-arcgis-storymaps","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/sharing-collaboration\/documenting-oral-history-through-maps-and-arcgis-storymaps","title":{"rendered":"Documenting oral history through maps and ArcGIS StoryMaps"},"author":9232,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37131,22941,37511],"tags":[398132,491512,176452,427572,706371],"industry":[],"product":[36611],"class_list":["post-1070101","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constituent-engagement","category-mapping","category-sharing-collaboration","tag-arcgis-storymaps","tag-featured-storyteller","tag-mapping","tag-story-maps","tag-storymaps","product-story-maps"],"acf":{"short_description":"Learn how one storyteller empowered the Matawai, a Maroon community, to document their history through maps and ArcGIS StoryMaps. ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","author_name":"","author_profession_organization":"","image":false,"text":"For us Matawai, the process of creating the map gave birth to the oral history project ... to make decisions about which stories should be shared and which stories should not be shared. We were able to put the story of the Matawai on the world map, so that people everywhere can know that we exist. - Rolien Sallons"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1070111,"id":1070111,"title":"lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot","filename":"lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","filesize":95247,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/sharing-collaboration\/documenting-oral-history-through-maps-and-arcgis-storymaps\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot","alt":"","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"Rudo Kemper, featured storyteller\n","name":"lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1070101,"date":"2020-12-02 15:41:08","modified":"2020-12-02 19:56:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":798,"height":965,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":929,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","large-width":798,"large-height":965,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":798,"1536x1536-height":965,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":798,"2048x2048-height":965,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot-385x465.jpg","card_image-width":385,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/lands-of-freedom-rudo-headshot.jpg","wide_image-width":798,"wide_image-height":965}},"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Rudo Kemper is a geographer with a background in archives and international administration, and a lifelong technology tinkerer. He is passionate about co-creating technology and maps to support Indigenous and other marginalized communities in defending their right to self-determination and representation, and safeguarding traditional knowledge of their lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a recent discussion with Esri\u2019s StoryMaps team, Rudo shared his experiences with map-based storytelling and the recent<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Lands of Freedom<\/em><\/a>\u00a0project\u2014an ArcGIS StoryMaps collection about the oral history and cultural heritage of the Matawai Maroons in Suriname. Read a snapshot of the discussion below.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Can you tell us about the mission and work of the Amazon Conservation Team?<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Amazon Conservation Team<\/a>\u00a0(ACT) partners with Indigenous and other local communities in South America to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture. ACT was founded in the mid-1990s with the observation that the most pristine and continuous forests were not in parks, but on lands inhabited and controlled by Indigenous people. ACT sees a future where healthy tropical forests and thriving local communities together contribute to the well-being of the planet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

What\u2019s your role within the organization?<\/h3>\n

As an anthropologist by training and a geographer by trade, my principal role at ACT was to help Indigenous and other forest communities make maps of their lands. ACT embraces the practice of participatory mapping, where we help local communities undertake their own data collection and mapmaking. Working with rainforest communities involves a lot of time in the field giving trainings and workshops, accompanying community members on expeditions, and researching technology that can work well in the jungle.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently transitioned to another organization more focused on building technologies for Indigenous communities, but I continue to support ACT with mapping and cultural heritage work in Suriname and the Guiana Shield.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

How do Esri’s storytelling platforms fit within that work?<\/h3>\n

From early on, ACT cartographers recognized the importance of story in mapmaking. In the early 2000s, ACT helped the Tar\u00ebno community of southern Suriname and northern Brazil make large-scale ancestral lands maps. These incredible maps, pioneering at the time of production, show millions of hectares of Indigenous place names, sacred sites, the locations of natural resources and hunting grounds, and more.<\/p>\n

To produce these maps, young Tar\u00ebno cartographers like Keeng Kumu\u2014whose life and work were later chronicled\u00a0in this story<\/a>\u2014interviewed community elders and came to learn centuries-old oral histories about these places.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1070191,"id":1070191,"title":"landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2","filename":"landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","filesize":161234,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/sharing-collaboration\/documenting-oral-history-through-maps-and-arcgis-storymaps\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2","alt":"","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"View the Keeng Kumu: indigenous cartographer story.","name":"landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1070101,"date":"2020-12-02 18:04:13","modified":"2020-12-02 18:04:39","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1894,"height":937,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","medium-width":464,"medium-height":230,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":380,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","large-width":1894,"large-height":937,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2-1536x760.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":760,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1894,"2048x2048-height":937,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2-826x409.jpg","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":409,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/landsoffreedom_indigenouscartographer2.jpg","wide_image-width":1894,"wide_image-height":937}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.amazonteam.org\/maps\/keeng-en\/index.html"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

When the ACT mapping team learned about Esri\u2019s storytelling platform, we immediately understood the remarkable potential for bringing maps and stories even closer together. In 2015, we made our first Esri story\u2014a Map Journal about the\u00a0gold mining sector in the rainforests of Suriname<\/a> and the impact of the industry on the lands and livelihoods of the communities. That story was followed shortly thereafter by a\u00a0beautifully designed cartographic journey<\/a>\u00a0into the travels of ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes and the Indigenous cultures that he encountered in the rainforests of Colombia and Brazil.<\/p>\n

In the past five years, ACT has created\u00a0<\/strong>seven major stories<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>about Indigenous cultures, the threats and environmental pressures posed by resource extractivism, and the organization\u2019s work to protect and establish Indigenous reserves. Our stories have evolved over time to use the latest Esri product enhancements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Can you give us an overview of the Lands of Freedom project?<\/h3>\n

Our latest story,\u00a0Lands of Freedom<\/a>, is about the place-based oral histories of the Matawai in Suriname. The Matawai are a Maroon community, which are descendants of formerly enslaved Africans who escaped into the rainforests over three centuries ago. They fought with the colonial powers for their right to exist in what is now their ancestral lands. The Matawai proudly recall enormously rich oral histories about their ancestors\u2019 struggles to find their way in the rainforest and to make it their own, and then identify hundreds of sites related to that history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"youtube","start_time":"0","end_time":"","youtube_video_url":"