The Aboriginal Mapping Network website, nativemaps.org, has recently undergone a major upgrade to the underlying content management system, a shift to a better server, and other improvements that we hope make the site more attractive, interactive, and useful to you. In the next few days, there may be some temporary issues as we continue this work. We thank you for your patience.

The Aboriginal Mapping Network is a non-profit network. Funding for the Aboriginal Mapping Network is primarily provided by foundations, through fundraising efforts by Ecotrust Canada.

The Aboriginal Mapping Network was created through the leadership of three organizations, the Gitxsan Nation, the Ahousaht Nation and Ecotrust Canada. From discussions with these three groups along with the Kwakiutl and Haisla Nations, it was agreed upon that Ecotrust Canada should be the managing body.

Ecotrust Canada has assumed responsibility for maintaining the web site, co-hosting the roundtable workshops, facilitating the publication series, and being the primary fundraiser for the Aboriginal Mapping Network. The content and direction and of the Aboriginal Mapping Network is decided upon by First Nation committees and through feedback to the AMN web site.

The Aboriginal Mapping Network has four main activity areas:

• www.nativemaps.org is the AMN web site which hosts a wealth of information where mappers can find information that includes data sources, training resources, funding, and relevant, timely news stories. In order to keep interested parties up to date on the AMN, an electronic newsletter will be sent out whenever a new story is posted. If you are interested in subscribing to this newsletter, please send an e-mail to info@nativemaps.org and we will add your name to the list. This list will not be distributed to third parties.

• The AMN periodically hosts an international GIS conference, where First Nations organize and present mapping issues on First Nations terms. The agendas for large mapping and GIS conferences are usually set by industry or government, and rarely address issues from a local or First Nations’ perspective. To help change this, the AMN is committed to hosting an annual international mapping conference where First Nations organize and host a world-class conference on First Nations terms. A First Nations committee oversees the conference planning.

• A publication series of "best practices" is designed to help meet the demand of information requests from the web site and to help fill the information vacuum in this field. We have joined together with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs to co-produce a publication series relating to cultural mapping and land use and occupancy research.

• The informal roundtable workshops are on topics that are selected in response to common themes that surface from the AMN web site feedback and from direct discussions with First Nations. To date, the AMN has hosted four roundtable workshops: Moving Traditional Use Study Information Into a GIS: Challenges and Methods, co-hosted with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, July 26-27,1999, Crown Land Referrals: A First Nations’ Approach, co-hosted with the Sliammon First Nation, November 29-30, 1999 and in 2002, Provincial Data for Landscape Analysis: Limitations and Applications, co-hosted with the Heiltsuk Nation, April 11, 2000.  The AMN also hosts specialized project-based workshops such as the 3-day Referrals Web-based Geospatial Tool development workshop, co-hosted with the Haida Nation and Lil'wat Nation, September 2007.