Indigenous and Migrant Embodied Cartographies

Abstract

The Odeimin Runners Club is an Indigenous and Black-Persons-of-Colour (IBPOC) media arts collective (the “Collective”) creating an online story map using an open-source satellite mapping platform. By tracing activities and connections in our engagements with each other and our communities, our counter-mapping project re-traces trade and ceremonial routes between the north of Turtle Island and the Caribbean archipelago, linking stories, videos and artworks to traditional territories. This paper addresses the process of a pilot project making three 16mm experimental films. Process cinema methodologies that incorporate plants and organic materials in film processing were applied in the first phase of the project to produce three short films using Bolex film cameras. The films are themed on human survival, land connection, “rematriation” and BIPOC counter-mapping, threading our knowledge and stories together as we visit each other’s territories. In the making, Indigenous and performative cartographic methods were also used to map the inter-relations between the histories and futures of the land. An interactive website was created to integrate these methodologies while giving public access to the films during online exhibitions. The interactivity of the platform establishes connections between the films and filmmakers, both formally and thematically, wherein sharing traditional wisdom, imparting important knowledge, and offering support and strength to one another, facilitate the navigation of current political and environmental instabilities facing the authors’ communities. The authors conclude by suggesting future explorations aimed at building an interactive online mapping experience for communities to deepen and widen connections between their respective communities.