Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is not just a political question: it is a responsibility that directly challenges our geospatial community. Geospatial data, maps and geographic information systems have historically played a role in the colonization of Indigenous territories. It is time to turn these tools toward justice.
GeoMTL 2027 hosts for the first time a talk entirely dedicated to the relationship between geospatial and Indigenous rights, presented by Robert Cloutier from the Cree Nation Government.
Robert and his team's work is exemplary: co-developing culturally adapted geospatial tools that allow First Nations to document their ancestral territories on their own terms, support their territorial claims with robust data and transmit their traditional geographic knowledge to younger generations.
But geospatial reconciliation goes beyond individual projects. It involves rethinking the governance of geospatial data on Indigenous territories, the right to data sovereignty for First Nations, Métis and Inuit, and training a new generation of Indigenous geospatial professionals.
GeoMTL is committed to this direction: starting in 2027, we will reserve participation scholarships for Indigenous students in geomatics and systematically include Indigenous perspectives in our programming.