Participants of the Indigenous Mapping Workshop.
Who takes part in the Indigenous Mapping Workshop?
The Indigenous Mapping Workshop is specifically for members of, or people working directly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities or organisations within Australia.
When accepting applications to attend the workshop, preference is given to those who are working in the field of mapping and are currently facing barriers and difficulties in accessing the specialised technology that they require.
Those who are currently experiencing these challenges and difficulties include, but are not limited to:
Indigenous Ranger Groups
Native Title and Aboriginal Heritage Groups
Arts, Language and Cultural Centres
Indigenous Ranger Groups.
There are 118 Aboriginal ranger groups across Australia that employ just over 830 people in a full-time capacity. Aboriginal ranger groups are fundamental to the protection and care of Indigenous Protected Areas, however they are currently being faced with many barriers and challenges toward digital mapping practices.
The Indigenous Mapping Workshop is useful to Indigenous Ranger Groups as they often face many challenges such as the following:
Rangers generally lack the formalised training required to achieve their mapping related objectives and have limited exposure to the different mapping platforms and technologies that are available.
Knowledge exchange and networking opportunities to gain an understanding of how other rangers are deploying mapping technology and solutions are a rarity.
Rangers require support in transitioning from basic skill sets to more specialised skill offerings. With the current process, there are limited pathways for ranger career growth and development in mapping and spatial
“Digital and mapping skills are fundamental to our ranger program. We use mapping for recording and tracking the occurrences of weed infestations, detecting feral animals and monitoring endangered plants and animals.”
Roxanne Smith, CEO of Ngulingah Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Native Title and Aboriginal Heritage Protection.
There are 173 Aboriginal native title organisations across Australia protecting the rights and interests of Aboriginal communities. Despite these organisations dealing with land access and tenure issues on a daily basis, they are often faced with challenges that restrict them from working to their full capacity.
The Indigenous Mapping Workshop is useful to Native Title and Aboriginal Heritage Protection as they often face many challenges such as the following:
There are limited ways to effectively present information, data and historical knowledge for discussions with government and industry, that doesn’t require some kind of digital capability.
Native title groups are looking for more engaging ways in the cultural and heritage digital space to capture the attention of the next generation.
There is a lack of basic mapping training, without needing to rely on third parties, to unlock the stores of cultural information gathered throughout the native title process
“In the mainstream, when we receive stakeholder interest in Kullili country, our maps are powerful communication tools to show why certain areas are important and why we want to be more involved in the management of those areas and places.”
Cassandra Stevens, Kullili Bulloo River Aboriginal Corporation.
Arts, Language and Cultural Centres.
The 2016 Census found that there are over 170 Indigenous languages in Australia, 69 of which had less than 100 speakers. Aboriginal organisations working in culture and language that attended IMW were struggling with ways to document and safeguard their languages and looked to other organisations for inspiration on technologies, processes and projects to educate their community about their language and culture.
The Indigenous Mapping Workshop is useful to Intergenerational Language and Culture as they often face many challenges such as the following:
Identified lack of opportunities to learn basic digital mapping techniques that can allow for simple mapping projects of places and country.
Many language and cultural organisations are seeking to learn entry-level digital literacy skills in addition to a basic understanding of spatial technologies.
There are limited opportunities to network with other language and culture projects being done around Australia. IMW provides a unique forum for a knowledge exchange of this nature.
“What we liked at the Workshop was that we got ideas from other Indigenous people from around Australia and overseas about how we can map dreamings, places, burial sites and birthplaces of the Willowra people.”
Keziah Ahkit Kitson and Marissa Brown, Willowra Community.
“There are so many Indigenous community organisations who work in mapping and data collection. Our workshop provides basic training for those who want to empower their communities and be equipped to manage their digital futures”
— Andrew Dowding, Managing Director of Winyama
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