Description

This talk centers around Indigenous Visual Sovereignty in national parks. Cassidy approaches this work by looking closely at land management cooperative agreements (memorandum of understandings, co-management, and co-stewardship) between tribal governments and federal agencies like the National Park Service. Forms of visual representation have critical geographical and political implications for land management, including legal determinations and frameworks for how the land is cared for and who it’s cared for by. In this way, centering forms of representation that are produced and controlled by Indigenous Peoples can influence tribal decision-making, trust-building, ecotourism strategies, and the integration of active cultural practices within the park.