Tracing the Flow of Treaty Relations in the Salish Sea.

Cartography, as an ever-evolving discipline, necessitates ongoing critical engagement with the question, "Who is the map for?"This inquiry is particularly pertinent in addressing the colonial narratives that have historically shaped mapping practices, especially in ways that relationships between First Nations peoples and the state -such as treaties, reserves/reservations, and land claim areas --are represented.The Coast Salish Peoples, the original Nations of the Salish Sea, maintain teachings, laws, governance systems, and land tenure practices that predate colonial settlement and continue to thrive today.In some parts of the Salish Sea bioregion (an area similar but not identical to the territories of Coast Salish peoples), historic and modern-day treaties have established foundational relationships between Indigenous communities and the settler states of Canada and the United States.Much of British Columbia, however, remains without treaties, reflecting the Crown's historical failure to establish formal agreements with many Indigenous communities, and the ongoing challenge of reaching modern-day treaty agreements today.In adjacent Washington State, historic treaties and tribal recognition policies have been quite different than in British Columbia, resulting in quite different cartographic picture.The transboundary nature of the Salish Sea further complicates conventional mapping practices, as political, legal, and geophysical boundaries often fail to align with how Indigenous peoples themselves see and practice their territorialities.The interconnected waterbodies of this bioregion provide a helpful focus, metaphor, and framework for better understanding and retracing treaty relationships, Indigenous territories, and ongoing negotiations over title and rights.This perspective is a cartographic challenge and highlights the need for maps that more accurately reflect the complex socio-political and ecological, and historical realities of the region.