GIS for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - PART 3D

Part III-D Learning from Practice: GIS as a Tool in Planning Sustainable Development Public Participation © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 25 GIS Support for Empowering Marginalized Communities: The Cherokee Nation Case Study Laura Harjo CONTENTS 25.1 Introduction..................................................................................................433 25.2 Geopolitical Context of Cherokee Nation...................................................437 25.3 Cherokee Nation GeoData Center...............................................................437 25.3.1 Cherokee Language Preservation ....................................................438 25.3.2 Mapping Indian Graves....................................................................439 25.3.3 Salina Cemetery Reclamation..........................................................441 25.3.4 Place Names and Historic Sites.......................................................441 25.3.5 Indian Health....................................................................................441 25.3.6 Methamphetamine Labs, Risk, and Protective Factors Research.......442 25.3.7 Business and Policy Decisions........................................................445 25.3.8 Native American Housing and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA): Formula-Negotiated Rulemaking.............................446 25.3.9 Arkansas Riverbed Authority...........................................................447 25.4 Conclusions..................................................................................................448 References..............................................................................................................449 25.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses several uses of GIS and its role in community empowerment at the Cherokee Nation GeoData Center, which is an entity within the Cherokee Nation tribal government. The role of the GeoData Center is to provide spatial 433 © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 434 GIS for Sustainable Development analyses and data analyses to assist in decision support, policy issues, and tribal planning efforts. The philosophy behind the Cherokee Nation GeoData Center is to reinforce traditional values specific to Indian culture, particularly that of Cherokee citizens, thereby advocating for and empowering them. The GIS technology is housed in the GeoData Center. Previous GIS projects have integrated traditional values specific to Indian culture, a guiding principle is that the work must advance the lives of Cherokee citizens. Many of the traditional values have been recognized since time immemorial. For example, placing a high importance upon one’s social network ensures that one’s actions are measured and will have positive implications on one’s social network, including the nuclear family, extended family, and surrounding physical environment. The natural environment influences and gives order to a people’s culture [1]. GIS has become a tool of empowerment for Indigenous peoples across the world. Indigenous peoples are strategically using the technology of GIS to empower and advocate for their causes. They are using it internally to empower their people and externally, with governmental entities, to advocate for their people. Empowerment and advocacy on behalf of Indigenous peoples is what ensures survival and pros-perity. Efforts of measured, methodical, and substantial research are forging a path for Indigenous people worldwide in profound ways. Common threads can be drawn between Tribal peoples of the United States and Indigenous peoples of the world that are living as marginalized peoples. Indigenous peoples from all over the world are using GIS to advance their peoples. For example, the Maori of New Zealand are gathering spatial information for land claims, at the same time gathering traditional knowledge and teaching their elders how to use GIS [2]; the Seri Tribe in Sonora, Mexico, are delineating areas for sustainable resource practices [3]. This chapter outlines methods Cherokee Nation currently uses to sustain its citizens and its tribal government. This in turn leads to its survival and prosperity, coupling the tools of modern science with traditional Indigenous values. Advocacy for Indigenous peoples is construed as standing up for Indigenous peoples in opposition to a governmental entity or any other entity that is a threat or detriment to the survival of a people or to its traditional way of life. There have been a string of occurrences within the United States against Tribal peoples. Many stories have not found their way to national interest; however, they are appalling. A couple of the worst transgressions of the twentieth century against Tribal peoples in the Oklahoma region were the placement of Indian children in boarding schools during the late 1800s to mid-1900s, where they were subjected to beatings and molestations and punished for speaking their native languages and, during the 1970s, coerced sterilization of Indian women of childbearing age at Indian Health facilities [4]. This is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg of the political climate that Tribal peoples live in within the state of Oklahoma. The tribal history contains a string of injustices; however, the pressing contemporary struggles include legislative battles and agreements at the state and federal legislative level. These are struggles that can be met with the technology of GIS. In the contemporary United States there are multitudes of tribes clamoring for survival. The struggle is urgent, many tribes are small groups, and once the last © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC GIS Support for Empowering Marginalized Communities 435 person dies, they are gone forever. Prior to contact there were over a million Tribal individuals with distinct cultures, languages, and governing systems. Much of the Indigenous population was annihilated after European colonization. Many died from new diseases brought to the shores. The Indian population was reduced by approx-imately 70%, from one million at the time of Columbus, to 300,000 in 1900 [5]. The culprits of this dramatic reduction in population were mainly war and disease. The policy of the United States government toward American Indian tribes has been a tumultuous journey. The federal government dealt separately with the various Indian tribes until 1871, when the U.S. Congress enacted a law that prohibited further treaty-making with tribes. Historically, the United States government has dealt with Indian tribes as sov-ereign nations; today tribes are considered domestic sovereigns [6]. Federal Indian policy has had several eras up to the present day. In order to gain a better under-standing of philosophies and principles of American Indian tribes, it is necessary to understand their history. In Stephen L. Pevar’s The Rights of Indians and Tribes [5], the reader is taken through seven eras of federal Indian policy up to current Indian policy. A brief discourse on United States Indian policy illustrates the underpinnings from which the concept of Indian law was borne as well as an understanding of contemporary struggles American Indians face today, some of which include lasting consequences for Tribes from failed Indian policy. The first era was from 1492 to1787: Tribal Independence [7]. Tribes were independent nations. They provided settlers with assistance in what is now America. During the periods of war, various European nations sought their support. In the French and Indian War, tribes allied with the British, the British and American Indians proved successful. As a result the King of England made a proclamation to limit the taking of Indian lands by colonists [8]. However, neither this proclamation nor laws, nor treaties still to come in the future would make a difference. Proclamations, laws, treaties were rarely enforced to the benefit of Indians. Indian land was taken, and tribal peoples were moved off their land to make way for colonists. Another turning point was the American Revolution, which took place between the colonists and the British, with much of this war fought on the aboriginal territories of Indians. Indians perceived this war as a war among outsiders; however colonists would burn villages to engage their participation in the war [9]. Tribes were independent entities that new arrivals in America looked toward for assistance in surviving, assistance in fighting wars. As the new arrivals settled in so did their insatiable want for Indian land. The era of 1787–1828 is called Agreements between Equals. This began the treaty period between tribes and the United States. During this time there were several land cessions on the part of American Indians. The United States benefited the most any time there was a land cession deal brokered with Indian tribes. At the end of this era a dark period for the Indian tribes of the southeastern region of the country came. The Cherokee Tribe among others was subjected to atrocious human rights violations. 1828–1887 was the era of Relocation of the Indians. During this time, what once was a covert policy now became an overt mission, to remove Indians from homelands © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 436 GIS for Sustainable Development desired by white settlers. Land was desired either for farming potential, gold, or extrication of other resources from the land. The influx of settlers was pushing resources to an unsustainable condition. This is a problem that is pervasive in the United States even today: unsustainable practices. This era saw tribes located in the Southeast subjected to a forced march called the Trail of Tears, which began in the southeast and ended in the state of Oklahoma. This forced march included Cherokee Nation. In 1887 the Dawes Act was passed, which allowed the government to take and allot the communally held tribal land base in Oklahoma. This land base was demar-cated as the new Cherokee Nation after land cessions of aboriginal homeland during the removal period. The United States government split tribal land bases into aliquot parts and assigned parcels of land to tribal members. After tribal members were assigned property, the United States government then deemed the remaining property as surplus. This surplus property was then opened up for sale to non-Indians. The intent of this land tenure policy was to assimilate Indians into white culture by virtue of converting Americans Indians into land-owning farmers. The boarding schools curriculum where Indian children were sent was steeped in principles of training Indians to become farmers and service providers. The period of 1934–1953 was coined Indian Reorganization, this was a period of readjustment of the existing Indian policy, and it began during the Great Depres-sion. A need for Indian land began to dwindle, due to lack of financial resources by non-Indians at the time as a result of the Great Depression. A critical report was released during this time, the Merriam Report, which outlined the poor status of Indians in the United States. This began a wave of change in Indian policy. It should be noted that the United States had and still takes a paternal stance with Indian tribes. In 1934 policies were put in place that allowed tribes to reorganize with the blessing of the United States. This was a time of nation building since the tribes were allowed to reorganize. In modern times the situation of Tribal peoples in the United States parallels that of other racial minorities. Data trends frequently indicate socioeconomic and health disparities among minority groups, American Indians included. The existence of American Indians in the contemporary United States takes its place along with other marginalized peoples. Marginalized peoples in the country for the most part include racial minorities, Blacks, Latinos, as well as white lower-income ranks. The common thread is that, from a socioeconomic standpoint, they all seem to suffer from the same ills: poverty, health disparities such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and a general lack of wealth, defined as assets such as homes and financial portfolios. Racial discrimination is a pervasive factor in the United States; it is insidious in that sometimes is not called what it really is. This is demonstrated by the amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights that guarantees suffrage for all peoples; however people of color still fight for social justice even today. The use of GIS technology and mapping is rising to meet the challenge of social justice for Cherokee citizens. They have been relegated to a position in which they are on the fringes of people’s consciousness; in other words, they have been mar-ginalized. Socioeconomic variables can be factored into this. Native people usually suffer the highest of all social ills (i.e., poverty rates, unemployment, risk factors © 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ... - tailieumienphi.vn