Abstract
The fourth and final episode of the series Maps towards Just Futures traces how maps shaped Indigenous representation from the colonial era through the rise of modern nation-states. Colonial and national cartography legitimized dispossession, turning Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, and Afro-descendant peoples into second-class citizens, erasing them through the language of deserts, frontiers, and scientific neutrality. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century thematic maps reinforced racial hierarchies and excluded nonwhite populations, even as advances in technology gave maps an aura of objectivity. Today, however, Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous communities reclaim mapping to assert memory, land, and rights. Once tools of domination, maps have become evidence and instruments for autonomy, resistance, and reimagining just futures.
Citation
Pensa, Laura, Scigliano, Federico, and Federico Scigliano. 2024. 'Maps towards Just Futures: Episode 4. Nations, Reparations, and Justice'. Dispossessions in the Americas. https://dia.upenn.edu/en/content/PensaL007/
