Abstract
This thesis examines the transmission of intergenerational cultural knowledge on eastern James Bay Cree lands. Geospatial technologies and the representation of Cree knowledge are explored, with emphasis on the geoweb. A geoweb with two parts, old and new, is theorized as compatible with Cree interests at a landscape level of analysis. Local and traditional knowledge scales also emerge as crucial levels of analysis for the creation and transmission of hybrid forms of knowledge on the geoweb.
The hypothesis that the meme is a viable and valid mechanism (replicator) for the transmission of indigenous intergenerational knowledge on the geoweb is supported. The assertion that the geoweb would be the primary vehicle for the protection and replication of place-memes is also well supported. Evidence for these claims was provided by examining traditional and local toponymic densities and qualitative data, revealing both the capacity and the will, historically and presently, to use geoweb-enabled mapping for local and traditional knowledge preservation and transmission.
The Author
From Dr. Eades’ website:
I am a geographer, a cartographer, a writer and a teacher with an interest in place names. My maps focus on Indigenous lands in Canada. My writing includes academic articles and reviews, poetry and blogs. I have published in diverse venues, including Progress in Human Geography, Cartographica, Geoforum and Event.
I have lived in many places in North America, including New Mexico (where I was born), Oklahoma (where my mother lives), British Columbia (I immigrated there with my parents at the age of three), Ontario and Quebec.
While I grew up in the north (Terrace, BC near the Alaska panhandle) and love the mountains of the temperate rainforest, I have an equal love of dry desert landscapes and landforms.
I have spent time in South Korea (teaching), Thailand and India. I hope to travel more widely, to Europe and Australia especially.
Dr. Eades is currently organizing a panel session called “Evolutionary Geographies” at the Annual Association of American Geographers Meeting in New York City in 2012, with J. Anthony Stallins.
For more information about Gwilym Lucas Eades, PhD, please explore these sites:
https://sites.google.com/gwilymlucaseades/home
http://independent.academia.edu/GwilymEades
This dissertation is presented here with the kind permission of the author.
© 2010 Gwilym Lucas Eades
