Creating indigital peripheries: The Bureau of Indian Affairs, geographic information systems, and the digitization of Indian Country.

Abstract

The uneven development of GIS as the BIA represents a core-periphery geography. Since the nineteenth century, North American Indians have encountered the implementation of new technologies used to meet the goals and objectives of United States federal Indian policies. The latest technology transfer project involves the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS). The BIA initiated the development of GIS networks at the Geographic Data Service Center in Lakewood, Colorado. Early development focused primarily upon the implementation of GIS within BIA Area and Agency offices and not tribal government departments. Centralized GIS development involved the mobilization, stability, and combinability of geographic information resources; which led to yet another cycle of accumulating information on American Indians and their land resources. Next, the agency developed and implemented the BIA Nationwide Database (BND). The BND represented a digital version of Indian Country. Evidence shows that the BND contained very little sensitive or proprietary tribal information. Rather, the vast majority of the BND consisted of topographic map features, timber management, and range management coverages. Development of the BND was uneven, covering some reservations while neglecting others. Mapping the geographic information networks reveals a core-periphery geography. Those reservations containing timberland resources and participating in integrated resource management received the most GIS development, American Indian land allotment areas received less development. Fluctuations in funding during the mid-1990s led to the demise of the BND as an updated GIS resource. This led to the implementation of the BIA GIS ration network. As with past networks, the BIA collaborated with external groups to implement the latest federal policy, automation of government functions. The BIA worked closely with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in the implementation of GIS into comprador tribal governments. Maintenance of the GIS networks included technical assistance, training, and the distribution of GIS software rations. Thus, GIS at the BIA does not represent a linear march to progress, but rather represents a recycling of past colonial practices.