Yoanna Dimitrova

I am a Master’s student in Anthropology and Archaeology, dedicated to explore novel ways in which I can combine these two disciplines, by simultaneously empowering Inidgenous communities. The Namunyak App deeply resonates with my aspirations to decolonise the anthropological toolkit, as well as to engage with community-needed solutions.

The speaker's profile picture

Sessions

09-30
09:00
30min
The Namunyak App, the Samburu and a Story About Collaboration
Yoanna Dimitrova, Titus Letaapo

Indigenous-led mapping has become an indispensable tool in the struggle of Indigenous peoples to claim their rights to land and resources. In this presentation I will give an overview of the Namunyak App project (a winner from the 2020 GEO Hack4Covid) 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 encodes real geographical coordinates into four symbols. 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.

Group on Earth Observations