Native America Calling: In the Spotlight with cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce

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Native America Calling: In the Spotlight with cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

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Native in the Spotlight: cartographer Margaret Wickens Pearce

The work of Margaret Wickens Pearce (Citizen Potawatomi) as a cartographer does not separate Indigenous people, stories, culture, and memory from a place that she is mapping.

Pearce works with tribes, Native scientists, and culture keepers to bring forth map layers often overlooked by the mainstream. One of her recent projects, “The Cold at Inuit Nunangat”, maps the ways Inuit protect their homelands in northern Canada and how colonization interferes with that connection.

MacArthur Foundation: Margaret Wickens Pearce | 2025 MacArthur Fellow

Pearce’s current mapping project, “Mississippi Dialogues”, depicts the Mississippi River through the perspective of Indigenous people and their stewardship. She was named a National Geographic 33 in March and has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2022. She is also the recipient of a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship and genius grant and is the April Native in the Spotlight for Native America Calling.

Also, visit with photographer and National Geographic Explorer Kiliii Yüyan (Nanai Hèzhé) about his photography book, “Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet.” The book, which launched in April, is a culmination of photos from his travels to Indigenous communities throughout the globe with a focus on Indigenous connections and stewardship of land.