American Indian Culture and Research Journal

A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE CARTOGRAPHIC RECORD There is no dearth of maps depicting Indian lands. The cartographic resource of original, modified, or reconstructed maps is voluminous and map sources abound in the official record and in the literature. To be sure, the vast majority of published maps derive much of their subject matter from older, more empirical sources. Yet gaps exist in the mapping record. Some tribal areas were never mapped (or were poorly mapped) and many maps of such areas have been lost. Keeping up with the countless boundary changes that have affected any one tribe’s ultimate territory (reservation) under federal administration is not impossible, but is frustrating nonetheless. In many instances treaties of land cession have suffered from poor translation into maps, and treaty wordings referring to tribal territory have been called into question. To date, no one has sorted out, classified, and indexed the countless maps that represent background data and exhibits in claims litigation before the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) or the Federal Claims Court (formerly the Court of Claims). Moreover, rarely can only one map fully display the numerous changes in Indian land tenure and territoriality from aboriginal times to the present that would relate to any specific tribe or reservation.