Wisdom Sits in Places

Maps offer a material representation of the difference between Anglo-American and Apache ways of viewing the land, a disconnect that has historically disadvantaged Indigenous people: On Anglo-American maps, Native American place-names, and their claims to the land, disappear. The need for Apache maps, with Apache place-names, is the driving force behind Basso’s exploration of sense of place among the Western Apache, and throughout the book, maps serve as a representation of how culture informs the ways in which people relate to the land. 

Basso’s mapping trips, in the company of Apache consultants, informed how he moved across the land, and as such, they shape the structure of the book. Though the book does not include the Apache map Basso helped create (a deliberate exclusion, at the request of the Western Apache), Basso’s description of the region around Cibecue as dense with dots indicating place-names—looking as though “they were blasted with a shotgun” (23)— invites us to envision a landscape laden with moral significance.

By discussing maps, Basso also highlights a feature of his role in the community. In addition to conducting research, Basso was a friend to many in Cibecue, and occasionally an advocate for them in litigation over land claims and water rights.