Confining a People Within a Map

Paul Apodaca (Navajo/Mixton), Ph.D., presents a lecture on the phenomenon of mapping and its effects on Native peoples, their cultures, and their development. Dr. Apodaca illustrates how mapping is an exercise of the mind that places people and locations within the domain of other people. “Mapping has been used to divide Native peoples into differing nationalities, to limit the definition of land claims, and as a method for penetrating the homelands of people not under the control of American and European governments. The mapping expeditions of Lewis and Clark, John C. Fremont, and others gave the United States a tool for initiating political and social change."