Brock historian highlights Indigenous communities’ influence on early Canadian maps
Joshua Manitowabi, an assistant professor of history at Brock, researches how European mapmakers learned from Indigenous peoples, identifying 17th–18th century maps and a notably accurate 1681 map reflecting Indigenous communities. He is developing his doctoral work into a book with McGill‑Queen’s University Press and documents Anishinaabe maps of Manitoulin.
Manitowabi’s research traces how European cartographers acquired geographic knowledge from Indigenous guides and how that information appeared in published maps. He found early maps recorded in Indigenous languages, and a precise 1681 map showing Indigenous locations and references to Ontario. He also studies a 1950s Anishinaabe map of Manitoulin, adding place‑name histories in Ojibwe. His doctoral research is being prepared for publication by McGill‑Queen’s University Press. The project connects historical scholarship, language revitalization and digital mapping tools such as ArcGIS, relevant to students in history, Indigenous studies and geographic information science.