The “Atlas Project” arises out of a series of consultations with the MOA parties [Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada], First Nation leaders, Elders, community members, and Treaty researchers. This culminated in the drafting of the TRCM Research Strategy, which included a section called: Livelihood & Manitoba First Nations Traditional Knowledge and Practices and finally the project itself in 2007. The TRCM established an Editorial Board to oversee the development of the project.
The Editorial Board had originally envisioned completion of 20 plates to create an Atlas Portfolio, however, due to time and financial constraints the research team has only been able to complete 16 draft atlas plates, with the remaining 4 under construction. The completed table of contents is as follows:
Plate 1 Star Knowledge (Darren Courchene) PREVIEW PLATE 1;
Plate 2 Fur Trade Exploration (Victor Lytwyn);
Plate 3 Selkirk Treaty (Anne Lindsay and Jennifer Brown);
Plate 4 Manitoba, 1870 (Frank Tough);
Plate 5 Treaties 1 and 2, Land and Boundaries (Frank Tough) PREVIEW PLATE 5;
Plate 6 Ayamihewikimawak (Praying Bosses): Early Missionary Encounters (Winona Wheeler);
Plate 7 Residential Schools (Frank Deer);
Plate 8 Local Control of Indian Education (Frank Deer);
Plate 9 Treaty Land Entitlement Process (Ralph Abramson);
Plate 10 Economic Change in the Reserve Transition Era, 1870-1900 (Frank Tough);
Plate 11 Manitoba First Nation Sanatoriums (Mary-Jane McCallum);
Plate 12 First Nations Political Organization, ca. 800-2000 CE (Darren Courchene);
Plate 13 Dakota Oyate (Darren Courchene);
Plate 14 TheAnishinaabeg (Darren Courchene);
Plate 15 OchekwiSipi (Fisher River) Cree First Nation (Winona Wheeler); and
Plate 16 Zaagiing (Sagkeeng) First Nation (Darren Courchene);
The portfolio was recently redesigned to incorporate more graphics and content. The Atlas Portfolio (Second Edition) includes a preface, acknowledgements, introduction, indigenous place names map, the 16 atlas plates, and bibliography – a mini-publication in itself. The TRCM will publish a small number of copies to be used for the purposes of recruiting new atlas plate contributors to the project as well as creating additional partnerships. It is the hope of the TRCM that the portfolio will gain momentum and generate new opportunities for the Atlas project’s continued development. Additionally, the extension of the TRCM mandate to March 31, 2014 provided additional time to ensure that the Historical Atlas of First Nations in Manitoba Volume I: Historical Development would continue.
An ‘Atlas Project’ Brochure was also created by the TRCM based upon the expected materials of the Atlas portfolio and has been made available within the TRCM as a promotional tool for the project and to gather momentum for the portfolio publication.