Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land

Files

The current API refreshes once per day using data directly from Mapbox. You can find the downloadable files here:

API

Native-Land.ca offers a few API options. You must always include one or more map types in your request.

?maps= (find all territories, languages, or treaties)
&position= (find territories/languages/treaties for a location)
&name= (find territories/languages/treaties by name)
Polygon Overlap (find territories/languages/treaties by overlap with a given polygon)
Embeddable map (iframe accepting position, name, or category queries)

More information on each type available below.

The data comes down from these as a list of features, though not a full geoJSON. This should still be useful in any web application. If needed, you can easily create a full geoJSON as follows:

var geoJSON = {
 "type": "FeatureCollection",
 "features": API_RESPONSE_HERE
}

Maps (?maps=map_type)

Ensure you always request at least one map type in each request. Two straightforward requests would be as follows:

https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=languages
https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=languages,territories

Position (?position=lat,lng)

Along with a map type, this will give you back the polygons (territories, languages, or treaties) that the point you specify is in. This allows you to tell users what areas their position occupies. Ensure you pass a valid lat/lng.

https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=languages&position=42.553080,-86.473389

Name (?name=slug)

You must use the proper slug when retrieving specific nations. This is because nation names may contain unparseable characters. See the sidebar for a list of all slugs.

The name request will give you specific polygons according to the “names” of the nations, languages, or treaties that you submit. See the sidebar for a full list of these so you can refer appropriately to the feature(s) you want.

API requests can refer to multiple categories of maps at once. See the following sample requests:

https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=languages&name=nakota,lakota
https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=territories,treaties&name=mtis,treaty8
https://native-land.ca/api/index.php?maps=languages&name=witsuwiten

Polygon Overlap (POST request)

For this request, make sure you are sending it as POST and include the necessary parameters. Polygons must be in geoJSON format.

The Polygon Overlap will receive a “maps” object (stating language, territories, and/or treaties as a comma-separated string) and a “polygon_geojson” object, which should be a geoJSON with 1 or more polygons included in it.

A sample request might be:

{

    “maps” : “territories”,

    “polygon_geojson” : {

  “type”: “FeatureCollection”,

  “features”: [

    {

      “type”: “Feature”,

      “properties”: {},

      “geometry”: {

        “type”: “Polygon”,

        “coordinates”: [

          [

            [

              -105.556640625,

              58.17070248348609

            ],

            [

              -107.09472656249999,

              57.11238500793404

            ],

            [

              -104.853515625,

              56.145549500679074

            ],

            [

              -98.6572265625,

              56.70450561416937

            ],

            [

              -97.55859375,

              57.89149735271034

            ],

            [

              -99.8876953125,

              58.49369382056807

            ],

            [

              -103.7548828125,

              58.768200159239576

            ],

            [

              -105.556640625,

              58.17070248348609

            ]

          ]

        ]

      }

    }

  ]

}

}

Send this request as POST to https://native-land.ca/wp-json/nativeland/v1/api/index.php and you will get a list returned of features that intersect with the provided polygon.

Please avoid sending extremely detailed polygons, to increase the speed of your request.

Embeddable

To create an iframe with a map displayed on it, just set the source of the iframe to the query you want to send. For instance

<iframe src="https://native-land.ca/api/embed/embed.html?maps=languages&name=witsuwiten"></iframe>

Will load the following:

You can use any name, category, or position query to get back these features on a map like this.

Add the data to your own maps

For information on how to add the Native Land Digital data to your maps (produced in Mapbox, QGIS, or ArcGIS), see this blog post.

API Metadata

If you’re using this dataset for your project and you want to properly credit it, it’s not too hard. You can give credit to “Native Land Digital”, and link to our website. The dataset is publicly available and is not under any proprietary license; the work can be considered under a CC0 license (free to use in any way you like). We would, however, kindly ask that you consider the morality of how you use this dataset, be aware that it is constantly changing, and that it is not meant or reasonably to use for academic or legal purposes.

Disclaimers

As stated on the front page of the Native Land website, the Native Land map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. You are free to use the dataset for your own maps and applications using the Native Land Digital API, but we encourage you to add a similar disclaimer on your own resource.

Update Frequency: Daily or weekly

Date First Published : February 1 2015

License: CC0

Contact: Native Land Digital, [email protected]

API