Indian Maps Their Place in the History of Plains Cartography

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for Spring 1984 Indian Maps Their Place In The History Of Plains Cartography G. Malcolm Lewis University of Sheffield Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Lewis, G. Malcolm, "Indian Maps Their Place In The History Of Plains Cartography" (1984). Great Plains Quarterly. 1767. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1767 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. INDIAN MAPS THEIR PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF PLAINS CARTOGRAPHY G. MALCOLM LEWIS References to the maps and mapping activities and private collections of Europe as well as of North American Indians have appeared in North America and the problems of searching scholarly writings for approximately two hun through the vast literature and the large number dred years and in contemporary accounts of of dispersed archival collections in which ac discovery and exploration for more than four counts of the mapping activities of Indians are hundred years. 1 The topic has received rela occasionally to be found. tively little attention, however, from modern It would be possible to write on this topic scholars.2 In view of the recent expansion of with reference to any major region of North Indian studies in both Canada and the United America, but areas within and immediately States, this lack may at first seem surprising. In adjacent to the Great Plains are particularly part it reflects the fact that there are relatively frequently represented on extant examples of few extant examples of Indian maps because Indian maps. While most of these date from the Indians and most whites have tended to treat nineteenth century, some are of eighteenth them as ephemera, not for the most part century origin, and the earliest (1602) of all worthy of preservation. In part it also reflects the extant examples of Indian maps from within both the geographical scatter of extant exam North America covers part of the southern ples through the libraries, museums, archives, Great Plains. North American Indians were in no sense unusual among the world's historic nonliterate C. Malcolm Lewis is a senior lecturer in geog peoples in making things which we call "maps" raphy at the University of Sheffield, England. A and which undoubtedly had many of the func specialist in geographical communication and tions we associate with maps. Mapmaking is a the history of geography, he has published arti universal trait~an aspect of pictographic com cles in such journals as Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Annals of the munication that, in Europe at least, probably Association of American Geographers, Carto originated in the Upper Paleolithic, perhaps as graphica, and The Map Collector. early as 20,000 B.P. Within nonliterate societies it probably did not have a clearly differentiated [GPQ 4 (Spring 1984): 91-108.] status until after contacts with whites in the 91 92 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1984 historic period. Throughout the world, white tions such as the contour of a mountain aliens solicited from native peoples geographical range or the course of a river. In various information about their terrae incognitae, and parts of the country, including the Plains, the response was frequently in map form. This Indians of the historic period not infre quently drew maps on material other than experience was particularly common in North rocks.... It is possible [therefore 1 that on America, where Inuits and Aleuts as well as occasion rocks were used for the same pur Indians conveyed information to whites in this poses, but reasonably convincing examples way. of this type are very infrequently encoun The "maps" of nonliterate peoples deserve tered.3 far more attention than they have received to date in at least five contexts. (1) They are im No completely convincing examples of maps in portant cognitively for what they reveal about a prehistoric plains rock art are known, however, people's spatial structuring and evaluation of and it seems unlikely that any will be discov the earth's surface. (2) For archeological pur ered. The reasons behind the ambiguity of the poses, they provide evidence upon which to evidence are threefold. Of these, the first two base searches for settlements and other prehis are universal and arise from the properties of toric sites. (3) They have ethnological signifi maps drawn by nonliterate peoples. Such maps cance as well, particularly regarding their roles are always structured topologically; that is, within the religious, social, and information they do not conserve true distance or true systems of indigenous peoples. (4) As historical direction. Likewise, they never consistently documents, they should be studied for their represent the relative physical magnitudes of roles in communications and negotiations be topographical features; culturally significant tween nonliterate native populations and alien but topographically inconspicuous features are whites. Finally (5), their cartographic impor prominently represented and vice versa. In the tance lies in their influence on maps made by absence of other evidence it is therefore virtual whites. ly impossible to match maplike patterns in rock This article examines Indian maps in histor art with patterns of features on the earth's ical and, more specifically, cartographic con surface. "Other evidence," in the prehistoric texts. It draws its evidence almost exclusively context, takes the form of unambiguous pic from within the American Great Plains and tographic representations of locally or region Canadian prairies, even though in some cases ally distinctive topographic features, such as better examples are available from other North lakes with distinctive shapes, mountains with American regions. distinctive promes, bold escarpments, or sharp breaks in vegetation. Unfortunately, plains rock . POSSIBLE MAPS FROM art, as indeed the region's early historic Indian 4 PREHISTORIC TIMES art, is deficient in such elements. For these reasons, the case for cartographic elements in Peoples on the plains may have made maps prehistoric plains rock art is, and seems likely in prehistoric times or incorporated simple to remain, tantalizingly unprovable, yet at the cartographic principles in some of their graphic same time irrefutable. art. According to a recent comprehensive sur The northwestern Great Plains contain a vey of North American Indian rock art, number of pre- or protohistoric structures that Here and there [in the Great Plains region] , are generally known as medicine wheels. Typ meandering lines and other abstract elements ically they consist of a central cairn (or small on certain [rock art] panels have suggested circle) of stones, from which radiate at unequal maps to experienced observers since the de angular intervals stone lines of unequal length. signs appeared to correspond rather closely At the distal ends of some of these are smaller with the features of nearby natural forma- stone cairns. The age and function(s) of these INDIAN MAPS 93 structures are matters of debate, but according to the shrine, and the name of the shrine be to at least one twentieth-century Indian infor came the name of the village. Five villages mant they incorporated cartographic principles. formed a central group, and their relative posi Supposedly memorials commemorating the war tions were fixed by the relative positions of the exploits of great chiefs, the stone lines show the stars that had given them their shrines. Around directions of each expedition, their lengths the these were approximately seventeen other vil relative distances covered, and the presence or lages, each likewise located according to the absence of distal cairns whether or not any of position of its star relative to the others. In this the enemy were killed.5 This technique incor way, the villages of the Skidi people· on the porates several of the cartographic principles earth were located as a reflected picture of their employed by Chickasaw Indians in Mississippi stars in the heavens? Each Skidi band possessed in 1737 in conveying information to the French a sacred bundle, and within some of these were abou t in tertribal relationships. 6 star charts painted on skin. One in the Field The Skidi band of Pawnees provides a more Museum, Chicago, is on tanned elk skin (fig. 1).8 certain example of the spatial arrangement of It represents the positions of stars by four structures aCCotding to cartographic principles. pointed symbols, drawn according to five dif Before these people were removed to Oklahoma ferent magnitudes: eleven of the first order; from the middle platte valley, the band was nine second order; forty-four third order; and divided into several villages, each with a differ many more fourth and fifth order, which, un ent shrine, the contents of which were deter like the others, are apparently distributed at mined by a specific star. The star gave its name random. Across the center of the chart is a FIG . 1. Pawnee (Skidi band) celestial chart on elk skin, pre-1906 and supposedly much older. Original 65 x 43 cm. Courtesy of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. 94 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1984 band of many small symbols representing the Minnesota. Grossly distorted, highly schematic, Milky Way. According to one analysis, the chart, and with many mythical elements, these charts which is supposed to predate any white influ can be related to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence ence, recognizes the same constellations that we drainage system as we now know it, but more do, shows seasonal changes, and records some convincingly so to the west than to the east.

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