SAA Bulletin 15(3): Maps to Assist Native American Consultation

Maps to Assist Native American Consultation Available on the Web

Two map sets and supporting information designed to facilitate consultation efforts between the Department of Defense and Native American tribes are now available to users of the World Wide Web. With funding from the Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program and the Center For Cultural Site Preservation Technology (CCSPT) the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) has put the two map sets on the web. The map sets were created as GIS databases, but are placed on the web in final map layer format with hypertext data. A map entitled "Indian Lands Judicially Established" was originally published by the U. S. Department of Interior in 1978. The map has recently been reprinted and is now available in hard copy from the USGS. The World Wide Web version developed at WES allows the user to click on a region of the contiguous 48 states and view areas where specific tribes have land claims recognized by specific court actions. As a part of the project, a database was prepared that summarizes information about the specific tribe, the size of the area, the court docket number , date and legal citation for the particular court action. A second map set allows web users to click on a region of the 50 states to locate 480 Department of Defense Installations. Each installation is coded to a database with information on size, branch of service, closest city, zip code, point of contact and telephone number, and status with repect to base closure and realignment. The purpose of the project is to increase the ease of access to essential but difficult to acquire information and facilitate the consultation process between Department of Defense Installations and Native American tribes, Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan groups. Principal investigator is Frederick L. Briuer (e-mail briuerf@ex1.wes.army.mil). URL locations for the two map sets and databases are http://www.wes.army.mil/el/ccspt/natamap/usa_pg.html and http://www.wes.army.mil/el/ccspt/dodmap/us_akhi.html.