Paper short abstract:

The Namunyak App is a project which aims at finding a novel way of labelling places on a map. This paper will present our project, how we belive it would benefit the Samburu and also raise a fruitful discussion on collaboration and best practices.

Paper long abstract:

Indigenous-led mapping has become a crucial tool in the struggle of Indigenous peoples to claim their rights to land and resources. We are a team of international and interdisciplinary students who are extremely passionate about finding novel ways in which we can improve people's lives. In this presentation I will give an overview of the Namunyak App project (a winner from the 2020 GEO Hack4Covid by our team) and emphasise on the importance of the active participation of Indigenous people in the mapping process itself in order to fully move beyond the colonial cartographic frame. The Namunyak App aims at creating a new way to label places on a map using local culturally relative symbols. Essentially, it encodes the geographical coordinates and translates them into four symbols which have been hand drawn by Stephen Lesiakono, a local artist. We believe that the app would allow the Samburu from northern Kenya to visualise and document their land in a dynamic, accessible and culturally relevant way. What we offer is to rethink the conventional, Western projections of maps, and combine it with local knowledge and understandings of land. Secondly, the app will be also an educational tool as it will introduce and advance the use of maps within the Samburu community. Finally, the Namunyak App is a communication tool that will improve the communication between Samburu community members, the local park rangers, and policy makers. We want to further raise a discussion regarding best practices during and post Covid-19 times.