Life and times of data access: Regarding Native Lands

Abstract

It is challenging to understand the full and detailed story of Native People’s lands in the United States. In this article, we contend that reliable and accessible data regarding Native People’s lands complicate and perpetuate those challenges. Stemming from the implications of colonial ideologies, such as the General Allotment Act of 1887, Native Peoples’ land-based data are difficult to access for Tribal Nations and researchers. Land data have been and continue to be obscured by U.S. federal processes and are dependent on unreliable systems of outdated and exclusive practices that consistently marginalize Native Peoples. Therefore, those data do not adequately inform Tribal land planning initiatives. In this article we recommend new processes that strengthen Tribal data sovereignty as the fundamental underpinnings to an inclusive and protected data in the future.