Margaret Wickens Pearce (born 1965) is a Citizen Potawatomi Nation cartographer known for creating maps that foreground Indigenous Peoples' understanding of land and place. Pearce pushes the boundaries of cartography beyond two-dimensional depictions of static and defined spaces. She draws on a wide range of archival materials and long-term collaborations with Indigenous communities to resurface their history, knowledge, and presence throughout North America. [1] [2] [3]
In 2925, she was recognized for her innovative contributions to the field of cartography and Indigenous studies by the MacArthur Fellowship. [4]
She grew up in Rochester, New York. Pearce earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Hampshire College in 1989 and a Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University in 1998. She held faculty positions at Humboldt State University (1998–2001), Ohio University (2005–2010), and the University of Kansas (2010–2016). [5] [1]
Pearce's work reimagines maps as dynamic, narrative-driven tools that reflect Indigenous perspectives. Her co-authored map, They Would Not Take Me There (2008), documents the Native geographies and communities Samuel de Champlain interacted with as he explored what is now Canada. The map includes Native place names, excerpts from Champlain’s journal, and imagined dialogue from First Nations People. More recently, Pearce has undertaken several projects that use the language of cartography to make visible Indigenous claims and ties to North America. Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada (2017) shows the traditional place names and sovereignties of Indigenous and First Nations Peoples across Canada. Pearce worked with hundreds of communities to determine their names for places and request permission for using the names in the project. For a 2020 investigative report entitled “Land-Grab Universities,” she designed a series of maps that powerfully illustrate the ongoing legacy of stolen tribal lands. The U.S. government funded endowments for over 50 colleges and universities with sales of nearly 11 million acres of land taken from tribal nations. These endowments continue to fund the institutions today. Pearce tells more intimate stories of dispossession in maps designed for Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories, a permanent exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago. Pearce worked with culture bearers from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Hoocąk Nation, and Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to chronicle their peoples’ experiences of forced removal and the violent loss of connection to their homelands. Currently, Pearce is working on Mississippi Dialogues, a public art project that will draw on extended collaborations with tribal nations whose homelands include the Mississippi River and its floodplain. The maps that emerge will reimagine the Mississippi River through Indigenous practices of environmental stewardship.
She taught at Humboldt State University, Ohio University, and University of Kansas.
She operates Studio 1:1 in Rockland, Maine. [6] [7] [8]
Pearce resides in Rockland, Maine, on Penobscot homelands. She is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and continues to collaborate with Indigenous communities to create maps that honor their histories and knowledge.