Three Maps of Indian Country [Title on Verso]

‘Three Maps of Indian Country’ made at a Native American vocational school.

This interesting double-sided sheet shows ‘Three Maps of the Indian Country.’ The first, located on the verso, identifies the probable location of Native American tribes across the U.S. and Canada around the year 1500. The second, also on the verso, is a simple pictorial plan organizing existing tribes into different cultural groups.

The third and largest map, functioning as the centerfold, outlines the reservations under federal jurisdiction (except for Alaska). Insets in the lower left show the Tanolah and Tulalip (Washington), Mission (California), and United Pueblos (New Mexico) jurisdictions. The map was originally designed by E.H. Coulson, Chief Engineering Draughtsman for the Office of Indian Affairs, in 1940. This example has been updated to 1964 according to text in the lower right corner. Issued by the Publications Service of the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

Operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1884, originally as a boarding school for Native American children, the Haskell Institute graduated its last high school class the year after the map was published (1965). It redeveloped into an institution of higher education during the Civil Rights Era, in part due to Native American political pressures, and continues to function as an accredited university to this day, with an average enrollment of about 1,000 students.

Source: Digital Douglas County History