Source: Native News Network
WASHINGTON – Many tribal communities in the United States lack accurate mapping information pertaining to roads, buildings, and information on services available to tribal members and the general public.
This week there is an unique opportunity for tribes to give input into a mapping project through Google.
In honor of the United Nation’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the National Congress of American Indians, Google Map Maker, Google Earth Outreach and the Google American Indian Network have teamed up and are proud to present Google’s first ever Indigenous Mapping Day on August 9.
A MapUp is a group of people coming together to improve how Google Maps represents their community. You and the members of your tribal community can add local roads, schools, health facilities, tribal offices and more. You can even map in your tribe’s native language. Google Map Maker currently supports Cherokee, Navajo, Inuktitut, Inupiaq, Kalaallisut, and Hawaiian languages.
Tribal Community Empowerment
Christopher Kalluk, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporation,
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada
Google Map Maker is a tool that allows tribal governments, businesses, and individual citizens to take ownership of their communities as represented on Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.
This tool allows these entities to add to, edit, and improve digital local maps by mapping tribal offices, medical facilities, local roads, and everything in between! Anything from structures, landscapes, or ATM locations can be identified on Google Maps by using the Map Maker tool.