“Indigenous maps can protect areas for the future” - Elisha Jacobs-Smith

Elisha Jacobs-Smith is a trainee Noongar ranger for the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) in the Perth Hills district of the Swan Region. Elisha attended our first regional Indigenous Mapping Workshop with the DBCA as someone who was relatively new to mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  

We caught up with Elisha to hear about his experience at the workshop and to learn more about how his newly acquired skills will benefit him into the future.

Elisha Jacobs-Smith

Thanks for meeting with me, Elisha. Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your role with DBCA?  

My name is Elisha and I’m employed by DBCA in two different roles. 

I’m here at the workshop today as a trainee Noongar ranger where I work in the Perth Hills District just out of Mundaring. Alongside this role, I also work as a Project Officer of Aboriginal Programs for DBCA’s Aboriginal Engagement and Heritage Unit. 

Within my role as a trainee ranger, I don’t usually undertake a lot of mapping but I do tag along with many of the people who do. This has led me to become increasingly involved with the navigational side of things when we work out in the field.  

Within my other role as a Project Officer for Aboriginal Programs, I complete administrative tasks such as contributing to our website and online newsletter Yarning Times, developing projects for DBCA and working on general departmental tasks that are related to our Reconciliation Action Plan. 

As someone who is quite new to mapping, how did you find the workshop sessions and how can you see these skills helping you at work? 

I’ve really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the workshop and the way the workshop sessions are structured. 

It was great to see how each of the technologies serve a different purpose. Google Earth Pro seemed great for visual mapping, I can already see how it would be beneficial for presentations that need to show aerial photographs and emphasise landmarks. 

QGIS on the other hand seemed useful from a land management and maintenance perspective. In the context of my work, I can see how it would be helpful for use cases such as weed management mapping. 

At work, I know that sometimes people can struggle with navigating. So, it’s great that I now know how to create maps that can help them to navigate and set them up for the day. 

Indigenous Rangers from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Will any of the skills that you learnt at IMW help you outside of work as well? 

I sit on a number of community boards, organisations and foundations that manage sections of Aboriginal owned properties. We regularly discuss the different work or rehabilitation that we want to do with the land, but don’t always have the resources to visualise this on a map. 

After attending the workshop sessions, I feel I have the skills to map out the areas that we want to work on and to show the type of work we want to do. This will be great for aiding our proposals for grant funding, which is really exciting. 

Why else do you think mapping is important to the Indigenous community? 

As Indigenous people, we’re all carers of country. Being able to view country from a mapping perspective and having digital skills is helpful when it comes to protecting areas in the future. 

When you’re working with external agencies, they may not always understand exactly where a site is located or what the significance of that site is. Using digital maps makes it much easier to communicate these messages so that agencies can better visualise a site's size and importance, and understand why we don’t want it disturbed. 

Mapping is also really interesting when you begin to look at ancient sites. When features are laid out on a map you can often see a more complex meaning. You might see how site’s form perfectly in a line, or lead to a water source. It’s really fascinating to view country in that way. 

Regional workshops are the newest addition to the Indigenous Mapping Workshop program, and provide small Indigenous groups and organisations opportunities for bespoke training and a tailored curriculum. Learn more about our latest workshop with DBCA here. 

Are you a previous IMW attendee or a current IMW Australia - On Demand participant and want to share your experiences like Elisha? Get in touch with our team, we’d love to hear from you!