Decolonizing geographic information systems

This thesis consists of four parts, each of which contributes to answering the primary research question: to what extent are Geographic Information Systems (GIS) a colonial technology? First, this thesis explores the ethics of GIS, responding to calls by geographers to consider the impacts on research of technologies such as GIS. An ethical approach to GIS has implications for research on indigenous peoples, research that seeks to decolonize Indigenous lands, bodies, and identities. Second, this thesis explores the history of maps and mapmaking, placing GIS on a continuum of cartographic techniques, overlapping, but not entirely encompassing previous and current mapping methods, including Indigenous mapping. Third, postcolonial theory and critical geopolitical theory are used to posit a process of counter-mapping and a history of resistance to colonial hegemony by Indigenous peoples in British Columbia (BC) over the last two hundred years. The fourth part presents an analysis and discussion of the results of qualitative interviews with GIS practitioners in north western British Columbian Aboriginal communities. By way of conclusion, a process of decolonization is theorized, focusing on the lands of Indigenous peoples and on the practices of GIS 'experts' situated within Indigenous communities.