Including Aboriginal values in resource management through enhanced geospatial communication

First Nations use contemporary maps and mapping tools in resource management and planning. Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) reflect the values, perceptions, and priorities of a Western-based Scientific worldview (WBSW). Traditional Aboriginal values are based in a traditional Aboriginal worldview (TAW), which can be very different from a WBSW. Therefore, maps and GIS may impede the communication of a TAW to resource managers and planners. The goal of this thesis was to evaluate and enhance the capacity to incorporate a TAW in mapping and GIS. I developed the Geographic Valuation System (GVS) in collaboration with research participants from the Halfway River First Nation (HRFN) and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Before the GVS could be built, we first had to identify why the HRFN needed a new approach to communicating their values. Community research methods were used to identify HRFN requirements. Iterative feedback methods supported testing of alternative approaches to geospatial representation, namely: review and use of hardcopy maps and multimedia; investigation of buffer and weighted polygon approaches; development of GIS capacity and introduction of a hyperlink tool; creation of areas derived from visibility analysis; and consideration of three-dimensional terrain models. The research resulted in fourteen principles that directed the creation of the GVS: 1) incorporate community-based research methods to identify characteristics of the geospatial approach; 2) identify and address threats to sustainable use of geospatial tools; 3) use a mapping approach that is preferred by HRFN to support and increase their familiarity and comfort level with maps; 4) identify and incorporate dominant modes of communication amongst HRFN (e.g., oral language); 5) cultivate an environment where Elders and other members will recall events, experiences and values, particularly during times of the year when they may not experience the land the way they used to directly (e.g., in winter); 6) identify and record characteristics of Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) while recognizing that knowledge and values may change over time and vary between individuals and family groups; 7) accommodate goals for knowledge beyond resource management through flexibility in collection, storage, and presentation; 8) situate decision-making power in the community and empower elected decision makers to make decisions that complement traditional decision-making processes; 9) control access to TEK and awareness of the locations of significant locales through collection, storage, and application of recorded knowledge; 10) maintain ability to incorporate relevant information from disparate sources; 11 ) enable HRFN to assess potential impacts of multiple resource management projects across space and time; 12) provide for compatibility with extant geospatial systems and management approaches; 13) provide supporting information to HRFN decision-makers, such as wildlife habitat polygons, in a way that does not subsume TEK to WBS Knowledge; and 14) use computer systems and software that serve the other principles and have the potential to grow with changing HRFN. industry, or government requirements. Released as Open Source software, the GVS is freely and openly available to other First Nations who may wish to adapt it to their own needs and requirements.