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User Stories

Real-world accounts from Indigenous and local communities using Terrastories to map, protect, and share their place-based stories and cultural heritage.

19 posts

Audiovisual and georeferenced records strengthen territorial monitoring in Tumucumaque Leste

Audiovisual and georeferenced records strengthen territorial monitoring in Tumucumaque Leste

From May 20–24, 2026, Wayana, Aparai, Tiriyó, Akuriyó, and Katxuyana youth gathered in Matawaré village in the eastern Tumucumaque and Paru D'Este Indigenous Territories for an audiovisual and georeferenced recording workshop. Working with Iepé and Awana Digital, the youth updated a shared CoMapeo database of points of interest and began building a community-led historical record of the Zehpo Eny ("cave of bones"), with results soon to be published in Terrastories.

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Terrastories featured in new “What is the Earth Defenders Toolkit” video!

Terrastories featured in new “What is the Earth Defenders Toolkit” video!

This network of people and organizations met together in the Ecuadorian Amazon in May 2023, during the Earth Defenders Toolkit Gathering, convened by Awana Digital. In this video, partners and allies from Waorani, Siona, Wayana and Mohawk territories, share their experiences with using these tools and the inspiring connections that were nourished at the Gathering.

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Wayana community in Suriname uses Terrastories as part of their mapping project

Wayana community in Suriname uses Terrastories as part of their mapping project

PARAMARIBO — According to the Wayana natives, their habitat, which has been demarcated by themselves, covers about 15 percent of Suriname. The Wayana area has a total area of 24,865 square kilometers and is located in the southeast of the country. That came out on Monday at the presentation of George Awankaroe who was closely involved in the demarcation process. This area is home to 862 indigenous people and has nine villages.

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Six Nations Polytechnic Academy integrates Terrastories, a place-based storytelling and mapping tool, into the Indigenous-focused curriculum of a high school classroom

Six Nations Polytechnic Academy integrates Terrastories, a place-based storytelling and mapping tool, into the Indigenous-focused curriculum of a high school classroom

Crossposted from Awana Digital blog Meet Chris Martin and Kali Anevich, two educators at Six Nations Polytechnic (SNP), a Haudenosaunee-governed Indigenous educational institute on Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation! Chris is a Water Project Lead at the SNP’s STEAM Academy for high school students, and Kali is a Geography and Environmental Science …

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2021 Indigenous Mapping Workshop: Mapping your place-based oral histories with Terrastories

2021 Indigenous Mapping Workshop: Mapping your place-based oral histories with Terrastories

Featuring Christopher Martin from the STEAM Academy at Six Nations and Ohneganos Ohnegahdę:gyo. In this interactive workshop at the 2021 Indigenous Mapping Workshop which took place on November 2, 2021, workshop participants used Terrastories, a free and open-source application for mapping and locating place-based stories, to map our own knowledge and stories about our land. After …

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(Mongabay) Empowering Indigenous youths with tradition and tech: Q&A with Dawn Martin-Hill

(Mongabay) Empowering Indigenous youths with tradition and tech: Q&A with Dawn Martin-Hill

In addition to water woes, the Six Nations face ongoing challenges regarding their land rights. As one way to help protect their land and water, Martin-Hill introduced Terrastories, a place-based storytelling app that decolonizes geography, landscapes and waterscapes. Terrastories integrates data with the Indigenous vision for the land using ancestral land maps, water quality data and oral histories of the land.

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Oral Histories: Helping the Kogui Manage their Territory

Oral Histories: Helping the Kogui Manage their Territory

In contexts like the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—where the recovery of ancestral territory is prioritized by the indigenous groups—the importance of instructing leaders in the use of tools that allow them to improve their capacity to understand and manage their lands is essential.

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Mapping oral history in the rainforests of Suriname

Mapping oral history in the rainforests of Suriname

The classroom was abuzz. Groups of students sat together around mobile phones, exploring a digital map of their traditional homeland, watching videos of their elders telling stories of community history and traditions. Watching them, I could tell that the Terrastories project was onto something.

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