For the Benefit of First Nation People

Six Nations Adapts Traditional Beliefs to New Technology with GIS

Centered in Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, Six Nations (referring specifically to the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations, it however is also home to members of the Delaware Nation) has the largest native "First Nation" community in Canada, boasting a membership over 20,000 and 46,000 acres of territory.

With the development of the Land Claims Policy in the 1970s, Six Nations began research into ancestral and territorial land ownership. More than 24 years of investigation have yielded thousands of historical documents pertaining to the history of land transactions. Treaties, deeds, sales records, appraisal records, and maps were of special interest to Six Nations, and their vast accumulation of documentation soon required a management system organized geographically.

In the early 1990s, Six Nations began their quest for affordable and flexible organization. What was required was a GIS system that could analyze and display nonspatial and spatial data while managing the vast amount of nonspatial data necessary to perform the extensive land parcel mapping. Since much of the data had already been compiled, an affordable, user-friendly system was sought to integrate the current database.

Based on these needs, the newly formed Six Nations Geo Systems, together with several nonnative technology companies, designed and developed Eagle's Cry software using ArcView GIS technology.

Community maps, from both historical records and present-day legal surveys, are linked to scanned images. For example, after viewing the map of a piece of land, a user can flip on-screen to an informational table containing ownership status and historical documents. This georeferencing ability has proven useful in Six Nations' land claim litigation against the government of Canada.

Addressing Community Needs

Among the many ambitious goals of the Eagle's Cry project is to create a comprehensive land information system that will address Six Nations' community needs. Public works, infrastructure management, utilities maintenance, ecosystem management, forestry, and emergency response are among the applications being addressed. In the area of education, community children can now learn history and computer skills simultaneously.

"The idea of connecting information to the land is not a new concept," says Philip Monture, president of Six Nations Geo Systems, "and Six Nations does not profess to be presenting a new theory. What Six Nations Geo Systems has done is to take its traditional beliefs of respect for Mother Earth and our relationship with the land and adapt them using new technology to benefit its people for today and our children for the next seven generations."

To achieve this success, Six Nations Geo Systems recently joined two colleges in Ontario, Niagara College and Six Nations Polytechnic, to launch GIS technician native programs. The curricula address technical training issues and promote the development of unique applications specific to First Nations people throughout Canada.

"This program allows First Nations to learn the academics of GIS using the Eagle's Cry while building a basemap and applications for their community," says Monture. "The knowledge is obtained and brought back to the First Nations for community benefits, thereby increasing community expertise, something that is greatly needed in First Nations communities if they want to manage their own lands."

In response to many community needs, Six Nations Geo Systems has also established Six Nations Land Systems in order to use the Eagle's Cry software for customization and development of land tenure, cadastral infrastructure, and land registration systems. These applications are intended not only for use by Canadian and U.S. First Nations and tribal governments, but also for establishing land base systems in Latin American native and nonnative governments.

This focused use of GIS and related spatial data technology is growing fast among native North American tribes. In the United States, more than 100 tribes are using some form of GIS to manage land and resource information. Tribal organizations' use of the technology, fueled by the diminishing costs of hardware and software, continues to expand, producing an impressive diversity of applications addressing tribal needs.

For more information, contact Geo Systems president Philip Monture (tel.: 519-445-2053) or Six Nations Geo Systems Inc. (tel.: 519-445-2822, fax: 519-445-2463, e-mail: sagobig6@execulink.com).

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