StoryMap

Augment traditional oral storytelling through live events and consider possible TEK

digitization practices.

Examples: Wampanoag Nation oral storytelling events.

As reiterated by Chuckie Green, storytelling is a vital aspect of TEK and record keeping of

Wampanoag ancestral history over generations. In tandem with the community engagement

aspect of this project, community-wide storytelling events held in the cultural education center

may provide opportunities for Wampanoag Nation members to actively engage with Indigenous

knowledge and cultural practices. To help preserve these stories, podcasts and other audio

mediums could be utilized to archive Indigenous knowledge for future reference, especially for

collaborating scientists that work with the NLC. Based on conversations with Chuckie Green on

the importance of oral storytelling as a method of conveying TEK, we would suggest in-person

oral tradition events over digital archival methods. However, STEM practitioners partnering with

TEK experts may benefit from private, selectively shared archives of recorded knowledge.

Discussing and determining whether and how to build a platform for TEK and STEM to be

exchanged and processed may be invaluable for Muddy Pond and NLC’s efforts to balance and

partner these two knowledge systems.

A final deliverable our team has identified in collaboration with Leslie and Chuckie is an ArcGIS

StoryMap. StoryMaps enable creators to add layers of text, audio, and video to a guided digital

tour of a mapped region. We believe a StoryMap would be particularly impactful for this project

as it contains the ability to include narrative as well as geographical information in an online

link. Such work would be easily accessible and shareable for people who cannot not physically

come to the site, as well as to youth who may be more inclined to use digital tools to educate

themselves. This StoryMap aims to crystallize the narrative of the restoration of Muddy Pond in

order to support its ecological, cultural, and social evolution. To do so, the StoryMap would

explain how Muddy Pond came to be, explain the mission of the Native Land Conservancy, and

showcase the envisioned Future of Muddy Pond.

Here is a link to our complete content for this StoryMap. We are currently in the process of

having this content reviewed by Leslie Jonas before placing it live in this draft version of the

map, which is not yet ready for distribution.