Visions of time in geospatial ontologies from Indigenous peoples: a case study with the Eastern Cree in Northern Quebec

ABSTRACT

Geography (e.g., features, topology, relationships) is relatively well-developed in ontology research. Integrating time and temporal referencing of geographic concepts in ontologies remains understudied with serious ramifications when we attempt to apply ontological models. The gap is heightened when considering Indigenous concepts of time as existing geospatial and temporal ontologies limit the knowledge that is acquired, modelled, and made interoperable with existing systems. Our case study with the Cree Nation of Wemindji in Northern Canada utilizes ethnography and qualitative analysis methods to compare Cree concepts of space-time with time in conventional geospatial ontologies. The study reveals four assumptions that differentiate Indigenous space-time from conventional ontologies, namely: 1. Time can be a repeating cycle instead of a line; 2. The past and the future have agency, which contrasts with the positioning in the present; 3. Geographic entities are dynamic processes rather than fixed physical objects; 4. Time is inseparable from a place rather than merely a fourth dimension added to a three-dimensional space model. We propose an alternate spatio-temporal ontology that better integrates Indigenous concepts and improves the interoperability of data.

KEYWORDS:

• Interoperability
• spatio-temporal ontologies
• Indigenous ontologies
• Cree Nation of Wemindji
• time

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge a doctoral research scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) received by the first author to conduct this research. We are grateful to the Cree Nation of Wemindji, the Wellness and Culture Department, and all community members. We are also thankful to the government of Canada’s Museums Assistance Program and the MappingBack collective for the opportunity to collaborate and work on Wemindji mapping projects. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions.

Data and codes availability statement

The qualitative coding scheme used in NVivo, examples of references, and examples of story structures that support this study’s findings are openly available in figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12628082.v1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture.

Notes on contributors

Geneviève Reid

Dr. Genevieve Reid is interested in the design of geospatial technologies for their use in Indigenous contexts. Her research critically examines challenges and opportunities of mapping technologies in taking into consideration Indigenous ways of knowing, Indigenous conceptualizations of space and time, and Indigenous geospatial data sovereignty. She is involved in research and mapping projects with the Eastern Cree in Northern Quebec, Canada.

Renée Sieber

Dr. Renée E. Sieber researches the use and value of information and communications technologies by marginalized communities, community-based organizations, and social movement groups. Her current work concentrates on the potential use of geospatial machine learning algorithms for social justice. Sieber founded the GIS study group of the Canadian Association of Geographers and is a leader in the field of public participation GIS.

Sammy Blackned

Sammy Blackned is an undergraduate student at Carleton University in the Geography and Environmental Studies department. He is a Cree (Iiyiyuu, Iiyiyuu Istchee) from Wemindji, Quebec, and a fluent speaker in Cree language, which he learned through stories shared by Elders, family, and friends. While at university, Sammy has fostered a passion for ethnology, especially Cree history, culture, and language.