Mapping as Storytelling

Task 1: Introductory activity

30 min

The power of map-making

This workshop asks you to reflect on the power of map-making and the implications of what map makers choose to include and/or represent. The ubiquity of maps in our daily lives means that we often do not consider the decisions that are made in producing them and the dynamics at work in the stories they tell.

Part A: Show the video from the Nakonechny (2017) story as a refresher (3-minute clip).

'Anywhere but Haiti': Asylum seeker retraces his 15,000-km odyssey to Canada

CBC News (2017)

Simon Nakonechny

Full-class debrief of preparation questions:

• What stands out in this news story?

• How is Pierre’s map different from other maps you’ve seen or used?

• What is the purpose of Pierre’s map

Maps look different depending on the creator and the audience. This is a map drawn by someone whose migration journey ended by crossing the Canada-US border; it offers one perspective. Now let’s consider a graphic representation of this border from a US Customs and Border Protection report about the US’ northern border with Canada.

Part B: Examine the US Customs and Border Protection map. See appendix B in PDF for larger image.

Northern Borders Security – Figure 3: Examples of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Use of Resources along the U.S.-Canada Border (p. 15)

Examples of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Use of Resources along the U.S.-Canada Border

United States Government Accountability Office - Northern Borders Security – Figure 3: Examples of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Use of Resources along the U.S.-Canada Border (p. 9) - https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-470.pdf

Divide students into small groups to discuss Pierre’s map and the US Customs and Border Protection map.

• What stands out in each of the maps?

• Who created these maps and for what purpose?

• What are the similarities and differences?

• What stories are told by each of these maps?

• What is missing or hidden from the maps?

Wrap up this task with a full-class debrief of the small-group discussions.

Task 2: Story Mapping Task

30 min

Critically Reflect on Maps

As you prepared for today’s class, you looked at a map that Pierre drew as he reflected on his migration journey and we discussed what is included and what remains hidden in such representations. In the next part of this workshop, you are going to critically reflect on how maps are used to tell stories about migration.

Often maps of migration journeys simplify the times and spaces of the journey. We’d like to encourage you to think about some more nuanced elements of migration journeys that are not always captured in linear narratives about movement from “home” to “host” country:

• The decision to leave is not always clear cut and can change over time; conditions can build up gradually or shift in a moment [see our Push & Pull Factors Education Module for more on this topic].

• Waiting en route and/or getting “stuck” at various locations along the way. E.g. waiting for trains, connecting with a smuggler you trust, earning and saving money for the onward journey

• Return and/or thwarted journey; you don’t always reach your intended destination on the first try; you may not have a clear destination in mind apart from finding somewhere safe, detention and deportation.

• Shifting relationships to notions and spaces of “home,” which could include family separations during the migration journey; family members left behind indefinitely; nostalgia and memory for people and places left behind; hope of possible return/reunification [see our What does refuge look like? Provocation for more on this topic].

Javier's Story

Javier helped organize a union and had family members who were guerillas. When he began being followed, he left Guatemala. After riding La Bestia for 20 days he connected with the Sanctuary Movement and arrived in Canada in 1991.

Listen to the excerpt from Javier's interview - 16:32-20:19

In this excerpt from his oral history, Javier describes his family’s experience around the US-Mexico border crossing. While you listen to the excerpt, consider how you could tell this story visually. See appendix A in PDF for transcript.

Think about the following questions:

• Who are the actors in the story?

• What spaces does he describe?

• What actions, scenes, and/or movements take place?

• What are the relationships between these different elements and actors?

• What nuances do you anticipate would be difficult to represent visually?

Brainstorm answers to the above questions as a group (approx. 15-20 minutes).

Instructor Note: If you’re meeting in a virtual classroom, you may want to make use of Miro for your brainstorming discussion (interactive, virtual white board with sticky notes). Note that participants are required to create a free account in order to use this tool. If you’re in a classroom, try to utilize a whiteboard to facilitate the brainstorming.

Task 3: Assignment for Submission

To be completed in groups

Part A: Oral History

In small groups, decide on which one of these oral histories you will “map”:

• Santiago - At age 14, Santiago travelled through Central America in hopes of making it to the United States. The civil war in El Salvador meant that his safety was in jeopardy. During this time, his mother was seeking resettlement for their family in Canada.

• Javier (Spanish) - Javier helped organize a union and had family members who were guerillas. When he began being followed, he left Guatemala. After riding La Bestia for 20 days he connected with the sanctuary movement and arrived in Canada in 1991.

• Roberto (Spanish) - Roberto was an activist with the Brigade of Agricultural Workers in El Salvador. Prompted by the persecution of his fellow activists, he fled El Salvador in 1984.

• Maria - During the civil war in El Salvador, Maria was caught in the middle of the violence. Inspired to create a safer life for her daughter, she travelled through Guatemala, Mexico, and the US to claim asylum in Canada in 1984.

• Antonio - Growing up on a family farm in El Salvador, Antonio learned the power of resiliency. Both the civil war and the presence of gangs threatened his life, forcing him to flee. Antonio now lives in Canada with his family.

Part B: Mapping as Storytelling

1. Listen to the oral history and brainstorm as a group, as you did with the excerpt from Javier’s story during the workshop.

2. Have a look at these examples for creative ways of visualizing people’s stories, spaces, and experiences:

• How 2020 Remapped Your Worlds

• Making Cartographies of Ourselves

3. Create a map that helps to visualize and tell the oral history you selected.

Part C: Written Reflection

When you submit your map, include a written reflection (suggested: 5-6 pages, double spaced including references) to explain the choices you made in designing your map. Your write-up should also critically reflect on the following questions with reference to at least two resources:

• What are some of the challenges of representation?

• What decisions are made about exclusion/inclusion?

• What are the violences and dangers that come into that process?

• How can maps disrupt our understandings or interpretations of history and place?

Suggested Resources:

• Tiffany Chung Interview: Maps of Memory

  Louisiana Channel (2016)

• Clashing Cartographies, Migrating Maps: The Politics of Mobility at the External Borders of E.U.rope

  ACME (2017)

  Maribel Casas-Cortés, Sebastian Cobarrubias, Charles Heller, & Lorenzo Pezzani

• Counter-mapping migration: irregular migrants’ stories through cognitive mapping

  Mobilities (2018)

  Amalia Campos-Delgado