Understanding the LAND

 “Whose woods these are, I need to know.” –paraphrase of Robert Frost 

While trying to understand the lands through which I will pass on this trip, I thought I would be able to list the indigenous tribes in order from north to south and then focus on the history and attributes of these peoples, and that the tribal boundaries would be explicit.  

 

Instead, understanding ancestral lands is much more complicated. The idea of creating definite boundaries for certain tribes sounds like it may be an outside culture's convention, and the mapping possibly a surveyor’s trick rationalizing how others think of land development, definition, and ownership. In fact, it is believed that any territorial limits associated with one tribe or another was much more fluid, overlapping, and probably has changed over time.   

Anthropologists, no matter how well meaning, may have helped impose ideas of boundaries which made dispossession that much easier. For example, because many of the territories were so large, physical boundaries (rivers, mountain ranges, valleys, etc) helped rationalize the territories' perceived boundaries. Even the indigenous makers of this interactive map reveal the following: “This map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question.”

In the current trend to be more aware of indigenous ancestral lands, corporations and municipalities appear to be making good faith efforts to ceremonially acknowledge the ancestral land, even as it is used as a hockey rink, mall, or national park. The “acknowledgment” can unfortunately emphasize “this was your land but it’s ours now” without any gesture or intent as to what might be done to rectify past wrongs. Indigenous anthropologists have asked non-indigenous social scientists to stop defining boundaries and naming ancestral lands since the naming is limiting the understanding of how indigenous people used the land. 

 

The map referenced here contains names of tribes, many of which I cannot even pronounce; for orientation, they provide a graphic layer which adds “settlers” towns and cities. The base map also contains land forms (mountains, valleys, lakes). 

At this time, I think I am passing through the following ancestral lands of first peoples (Canada) and native American (US) indigenous people prior to their “relocation” and sequestration on reservations.  I am basing this on the study of the map, so I can’t say this is 100% accurate. I will keep my eyes open as I ride.

For this blog I can only name tribes to be aware of them. I could not possibly provide more info on each and do them the justice they deserve. More than one tribe is listed below as their lands and territories overlap according to the map. 

 

Alberta (CA)

Jasper            Aseniwuche (Rocky Mountain), Secwépemc, Michif Piyii (Métis), Tsuu T’ina, Stoney, Mountain Métis.

Banff              Michif Piyii (Métis), Niitsitpiis Stahkoii (Blackfoot)

Elkford           ktunaxa amakis, Stoney, Tsuu T’ina 

Fernie            ktunaxa amakis

Roosville        ktunaxa amakis

 

 

Montana (USA)

Eureka          ktunaxa amakis

Whitefish       ktunaxa amakis, Salish

Flathead        Salish

Helena           Salish, Blackfoot

Butte              Salish

Wise River     Salish, Shoshone-Bannock

Lima               Shoshone-Bannock

Big Springs    Cheyenne, Shoshone-Bannock

 

Wyoming

         Jackson            Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock

         Pinedale           Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Apsaalooké 

                                  (Crow)

         Atlantic City      Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone,  Apsaalooké (Crow)          

         Rawlins            Cheyenne

 

Colorado

         Slater                Eastern Shoshone

         Steamboat        Cheyenne , Eastern Shoshone, Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute) 

(these characters for the Ute appear as noted, not a typo)

         Kremmling        Cheyenne , Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute)

         Breckenridge    Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute)

         Salida               Cheyenne , Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute)

         Platoro              Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute), Pueblos,   Diné Bikéyah

 

New Mexico

         Abiquiu                Núu-agha-tuve-pu  (Ute), Pueblos,

         Grants                 Pueblos, Shiwinna (Zuni)

         Pie Town             Pueblos, Chiricahua Apache, Shiwinna (Zuni)

         Silver City           Chiricahua Apache

        Antelope Wells    Chiricahua Apache, Janos

        Columbus            Chiricahua Apache, Janos, Pescado