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* add: news about Transboundary Gathering Summary

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+---
+title: "A Transboundary Gathering: Digital Ecocultural Mapping in the Salish Sea"
+date: "2024-08-22"
+excerpt: The Transboundary Gathering, Digital Ecocultural Mapping in the Salish Sea was an Indigenous-led collaborative working meeting and coalition-building event
+---
+## Summary
+
+The **Transboundary Gathering: Digital Ecocultural Mapping in the Salish Sea** was an Indigenous-led collaborative
+working meeting and coalition-building event that took place in August 2023 on the ancestral land of the Indigenous
+Lummi people in Washington State. This 5-day gathering took place under the leadership of Kusemaat (Shirley Williams)
+and [Whiteswan Environmental](https://www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/), who are located in Lummi territory, Washington
+State, with the support of the [American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)](https://www.aihec.org/),
+[Western Washingon University’s Centre for Community Learning](https://ccl.wwu.edu/), the
+[Institute for Multidisciplinary Ecological Research in the Salish Sea (IMERSS)](https://imerss.org/)
+and [OCAD University’s Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC)](https://idrc.ocadu.ca/). The gathering brought
+together close to 100 Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, designers, students, and government officials
+from Canada and the U.S. to consider approaches to ecocultural mapping that are rooted in the land, respect
+cultural safety, address issues of data sovereignty, protect sacred knowledge, and ensure Indigenous leadership.
+
+<figure>
+<img src="/news/images/transboundary-gathering-site.jpeg"
+    alt="A group of approximately 25 people stand and sit in a grassy area by the water in front of 3 carved and
+    painted Strait Salish story poles. A man wearing a blanket over his shoulders stands in front of the group and
+    appears to be talking, while a woman in a woven Salish blanket and cedar hat stands near him listening.
+    A white clapboard building can be seen in the background.">
+<figcaption>
+    Transboundary Gathering site visit and public presentation at Pe’pi’ow’elh (English Camp) on San Juan Island.
+    <em>Photo credit: Dana Ayotte</em>
+</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+The gathering included structured conversation and discussion through facilitated social learning circles and
+community-led design sessions, singing, storytelling, tours of the land and site visits. Participants engaged
+in activities at multiple locations including two ancestral village sites and the Lummi reservation. Visiting
+locations central to the present-day lives and rich ecocultural heritage of the Lummi people helped to facilitate a
+deeper understanding of the impact, benefit and challenges of ecocultural mapping in this region and beyond.
+
+<figure>
+<img src="/news/images/transboundary-gathering-participants.jpeg"
+    alt='Two people stand at and actively engage with what appears to be a clothesline. Colourful pieces of paper
+    with text written on them are pinned to the clothesline.  On one piece of paper can be seen the hand-written
+    text "WE ARE STILL HERE" while on others can be seen the words "Know that..." and "You are your ancestors".'>
+<figcaption>
+    Transboundary Gathering participants take part in a social learning activity. <em>Photo credit: Andrew Simon</em>
+</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+## Ecocultural Mapping
+
+The impetus for this gathering was
+[an interdisciplinary, participatory and inclusive digital mapping project](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v84S7DeORU)
+that began in 2020. Digital ecocultural mapping can provide visualizations and storytelling about natural, cultural,
+and historical sites including ancestral village sites, camps, reef net locations, food sovereignty, biodiversity and
+Indigenous stewardship systems. ​The
+[pilot project of the ecocultural story map](https://imerss.github.io/xetthecum-storymap-story/Xetthecum-Storymap-Reknitted.html#)
+aims to meaningfully braid together Indigenous ways of knowing and ecological science to create an interactive,
+educational, ecocultural map of a region in the Salish Sea called Xetthecum in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language
+(Retreat Cove, Galiano Island, BC).
+
+<figure>
+<img src="/news/images/interactive-xetthecum-storymap.png"
+    alt='A screenshot of a webpage shows the heading "Xetthecum Digital Ecocultural Mappping" and a navigational
+    menu showing "The Story of Xetthecum", "About", "Explore" and "Resources". On the upper half of the page there
+    is a zoomed-in map of a small area of Galiano Island showing several different regions represented by
+    different colours and symbolic tiles. The map legend lists Forests, Freshwater, Marine and Woodlands.
+    Text appears in a 2-column box in the bottom half of the page with the heading "Xetthecum".'>
+<figcaption>
+    A screenshot of the interactive Xetthecum storymap.
+</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+This digital ecocultural storymap and [accompanying website](https://imerss.github.io/xetthecum-storymap/)
+will serve as an educational resource supporting Indigenous youth and others to learn the Hul’q’umi’num’ language,
+study the regional biodiversity and ecological communities in which different species live, and learn about the
+ecological and cultural values of those species and communities. The storymap also aims to promote ecocultural mapping
+as a professional conservation practice among the next generation of land stewards. The Transboundary Gathering
+provided an opportunity for the coalition, together with a broader audience, to co-create next steps for a broader
+mapping initiative that would include the
+[mapping of Pe’pi’ow’elh](https://imerss.github.io/imerss-bioinfo/Pe%27pi%27ow%27elh.html)
+(English Camp) in Lummi territory.
+
+<figure>
+<img src="/news/images/transboundary-gathering-participants-2.jpeg"
+    alt="Three people sit in front of a large map printed on white paper, while two of them point at different areas
+    on the map. In the background a person wearing a Coast Salish woven shawl looks on while water and trees across
+    the water can be seen in the distance.">
+<figcaption>
+    Transboundary Gathering participants look at a map of the Salish Sea that shows ancestral sites and place names.
+    <em>Photo credit: Dana Ayotte</em>
+</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+## Relationship Building and Knowledge Sharing
+
+The starting point for this digital ecocultural mapping project was the preservation of biodiversity in the Salish Sea,
+a region that spans the colonially-imposed boundary between Canada and the US (Sobocinski 2021). Transboundary
+relationships are essential for the success of this work; the colonial fragmentation of Indigenous tribes caused
+by enforcement of the Canada-US border has created a barrier to the knowledge sharing and collaborative
+solution-building essential to restoring Indigenous language, culture and lands (Norman 2012; Wilson 2019).
+
+The Transboundary Gathering acted as a catalyst for establishing an on-going collaborative partnership to support
+cross-cultural ecocultural mapping efforts in the Salish Sea region, and to share tools and resources that will
+support similar efforts elsewhere. Together with Indigenous and non-Indigenous designers, scholars and technologists,
+we explored the implications of co-design and interdisciplinary knowledge exchange among Indigenous communities,
+bioscientists, ecologists, and inclusive designers. Building on the development of community-led co-design methods,
+the gathering provided an opportunity for workshop participants to extend and apply these practices to address
+the challenges of cross-cultural collaboration and to consider how an inclusive design approach can help to
+reconceptualize the design of technologies and cultural systems in ways that centre Indigenous leadership and
+epistemology.
+
+<figure>
+<img src="/news/images/whiteswan-environmental-lead-participants.jpeg"
+    alt="Three people wearing Coast Salish woven clothing and cedar hats stand in front of 3 story poles with their
+    hands raised in front of their bodies. One of them holds a rattle in each hand.
+    In the background water and trees can be seen.">
+<figcaption>
+    Members of Whiteswan Environmental lead participants in an opening prayer and song. <em>Photo credit: Dana Ayotte</em>
+</figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+## Knowledge Mobilisation
+
+Our knowledge mobilization efforts include:
+
+- Presentation of the storymap to Penelakut elders (February 2024, Galiano Island), including gathering feedback and
+further stories of place for inclusion in the storymap.
+- Documentation and sharing of a
+[synthesis of the key practices, plans, and actionable approaches for ecocultural mapping research, including lessons learned](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15aE_WDgoj8CiBkbFj5zX78OknL-EIC9P/edit?rtpof=true&sd=true).
+- Creation of a [website](https://imerss.github.io/xetthecum-storymap/)
+that provides an engaging and accessible portal into the project and the storymap.
+- Dissemination of design prototypes of digital ecocultural mapping tools
+([Xetthecum, Pe’pi’ow’elh](https://imerss.github.io/xetthecum-storymap-story/Xetthecum-Storymap-Reknitted.html#))
+that are being shared through partners’ established networks ([IMERSS](https://imerss.org/), [CRD](https://www.crd.bc.ca/),
+[IDRC](https://idrc.ocadu.ca/), [Watersheds BC](https://watershedsbc.ca/)).
+- Presentation of the project at the Indigenous Watersheds Initiative gathering (March 2024).
+- Presentation to the public and to National Parks Services at Pe’pi’ow’elh (English Camp), San Juan Island.
+- Relationship building and sharing of the mapping work with
+[AIHEC](https://www.aihec.org/) and [NWIC](https://www.nwic.edu/)
+during the Gathering planning process.
+- Documentation and sharing of research practices for cross-cultural, Indigenous-led projects, including
+[by-laws](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K5NH0vcXn8qIS210acESq_-t5_qF-QAWjoMMMVM2zyQ/edit) and
+community-led design strategies (WIP).
+- Presentation of the Xetthecum project at [Biosonic](https://www.activepassive.ca/archive-biosonic-2023.html)
+(Galiano Island, March 2023 & 2024).
+- Sharing of Xetthecum Storymap work with the broader inclusive design community through the
+[FLOE project](https://floeproject.org/news/2023-09-05-an-indigenous-led-transboundary-gathering/)
+and [WeCount Recount newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/969e334f9042/we-count-recount-may-jun-2024?e=0e5ac39be9).
+- Presentation of the digital ecocultural storymap  with [Data Communities for Inclusion](https://datacommunities.ca/) August
+2023 [CIFAR solutions network](https://cifar.ca/ai/ai-and-society/cifar-solution-networks/data-communities-for-inclusion/)
+meeting in context of data sovereignty and data governance.
+
+### Upcoming:
+
+- Presentation of the Xetthecum storymap to community members on Galiano Island in an exhibition format that will
+allow for discussion and input (Yellowhouse Art Centre, October 2024).
+- Inclusion of the ecocultural storymap and Transboundary Gathering footage in Parallax: Reimagining the Canada-U.S.
+Border Venue: [The Reach Gallery Museum](https://thereach.ca/) (April 4 – August 16, 2025); touring to additional
+exhibition venuesin British Columbia Washington State in 2026 pending confirmation.
+
+## References
+
+Norman, E.S. 2012. “Cultural politics and transboundary resource governance in the Salish Sea.”
+Water Alternatives 5 (1): 138-160.
+[https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/allabs/162-a5-1-9/file].
+
+Sobocinski, Kathryn L. 2021. "State of the Salish Sea".
+Institute Publications, Salish Sea Institute, Western Washington University. [https://doi.org/10.25710/vfhb-3a69].
+
+Wilson, Kyla. 2019. “Governing the Salish Sea.” Hastings Environmental Law Journal 26, no.
+1 (Winter): 169-182.
+[https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_environmental_law_journal/vol26/iss1/9/].