
You are on native land. Thatโs the basic premise of the Native Land Digital map, a continuously updated source of information about indigenous territories and treaties across Canada and the United States (and, as the site grows, other parts of the globe).
Users can type in their address (or just zoom in on the part of the map where they live) to see which ancestral tribal territory they are in, which indigenous languages are or were spoken there, and which treaties apply to that land.
The website โ which also comes with a mobile app available for both iOS and Android โ is for anyone who has wanted to learn more and do more to support native rights and show respect and acknowledgment for the indigenous communities who have been displaced and disinherited from their land over centuries of colonization.
โA lot of settlers are not really aware of the situation with the land,โ said Victor Temprano, the original web designer behind the map, in an interview with CBC. โA lot of people are vaguely interested in it, but there aren’t many resources to explore it.โ
The map and educational tools throughout the site act as an incredibly useful resource, complete with explainers and guides to help you navigate the map and understand what youโre looking at.
The goal of the project is to encourage a broader discussion of indigenous history and geography and bring greater awareness of the landโs history and the diverse cultures and communities that have grown out of it.

November is Native American Heritage Month so itโs the perfect time to explore the map and learn more about the native history and culture of this land. Above all, itโs the perfect time to learn about the issues and land rights struggles that Native communities across the continent are facing today.
How to Support Your Local Native Community

As you explore the Native Land Digital map and learn more about the cultures, languages, and people with an ancestral claim to the land you live on, you can show your respect by supporting the Native communities near you and elsewhere in the world. Here are some of the ways you can do that.
Volunteer or Donate to a Nearby Reservation
Use the Native Land Digital Map to find the website(s) of the tribes closest to you and see what volunteer or donation opportunities they offer to visitors. Some reservations have programs for collecting basic necessities like food, clothing, and household products. Others have volunteer opportunities to build and repair homes on the reservation. Others have elder programs to provide care and support to aging Native community members.
The exact opportunities depend on where you are but volunteering your time or donating money or resources to the Native communities around you is a great way to make a meaningful impact in peopleโs lives.

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Raise Awareness and Support Native Issues
Talking about Native issues on your social media platform and with your friends as well as lending your platform to Native voices by sharing their content is a great way to bring awareness to the issues that matter. When possible, showing up for protests, signing petitions, and voting in support of Native rights is even better.
While specific local issues vary from fishing rights along bays and rivers to fights for federal recognition, two of the most important issues that affect indigenous communities across North America include the problem of missing indigenous women and the land back movement.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Indigenous women are 10x more likely to be murdered than women of other ethnicities. According to a 2018 CDC report, itโs the sixth leading cause of death among Indigenous people. The same report found that as much as 46% of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence.
A report from the Urban Indian Health Institute showed that, of the 5,712 Indigenous missing person cases reported by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), only 116 are logged on the Department of Justiceโs National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS) database.
That discrepancy matters because itโs NamUS, not the NCIC database, that law enforcement, medical examiners, and coroners use to cross-check DNA samples and identify patterns in disappearances that could lead to finding and arresting suspects. With so many cases left out of the NamUS database, potential matches and patterns for those thousands of unlogged cases could be missed.
You can support the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women project by donating or amplifying their message on social media. The organization actively searches for missing women and runs the Staying Sacred program to help indigenous girls learn the survival skills necessary to avoid sexual violence and abduction โ an unfortunately necessary life skill for young girls who cannot count on law enforcement to protect them. ย
The Land Back Movement
Land Back is a catchall term for a variety of movements that are working to re-establish indigenous sovereignty over territories across North America. While the movement has roots in historical territorial claims and treaties, proponents also argue that Native sovereignty over land would also help combat the climate crisis.
The Standing Rock protests of 2016, for example, were an effort to exercise Native sovereignty over the water and lands that the Dakota Access Pipeline was threatening to destroy. Everywhere that Native communities are exercising their claim to the land that once belonged to them, theyโre also often implementing traditional practices of land stewardship and conservation to protect forests, wildlife, and water sources from being destroyed or polluted.
While communities have been fighting to get their land back for roughly 500 years, the official LANDBACK movement launched in 2018 as a way to connect all the different movements and coordinate resources so that these various land back claims could benefit from more support. You can amplify their message on social media, learn more about what #LANDBACK means, or donate to the movement.
Buy Products From Native-Owned Businesses
Buying from Native-Owned businesses is a great way to both support indigenous communities and ensure your money is going to real people who will keep those dollars in the community โ rather than giving it to a multinational conglomerate that will horde that money in hidden tax shelters.
Buying Native-Owned products is especially important when the product in question comes from a Native culture. Any witches, pagans, or other folks out there who burn sage, for example, should buy their sage from Native growers and harvesters, like the Lakota Sioux, who originated the practice of smudging โ burning sage to cleanse or bless a site or person.
Thanks to the internet, tons of Native-owned businesses now offer online shops so you can support indigenous artists, designers, and creators no matter where you are. This Native American business directory from PowWows.com is a great place to start. You can search for Native-Owned businesses by category, including fashion, art, music, books, beauty products, and more.
Volunteer or Donate to Native Land Digital
The Native Land Digital project is a huge, research-intensive undertaking that relies on a combination of grants and individual donations. Over the past few years, the nonprofit organization behind the map has been working to expand it to include indigenous territory across Central and South America. Theyโre also working on adding information for Australia, Africa, and Eurasia with the hope of creating a global map of indigenous history and geography.
If you have any expertise, skills, or information that could help with that project, you can sign up as a volunteer. Theyโre also looking for help with web design, app development, blog writing, fundraising initiatives, and other tasks so whatever skills you have to share, itโs worth reaching out to offer them.
If you arenโt able to help with any of the work they need done, you can instead make a tax-deductible donation to help fund that work.