“Locations and Wanderings of the Aboriginal Tribes” from Willard’s History of the United States, 1828

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According to Bloomberg, Emma Hart Willard “innovated new cartographic techniques while also reinforcing dominant assumptions about Native Americans”. 

Emma Hart Willard was a women cartographer in the early 19th century. She was also a historian, educator, and activist for women's rights. According to James Arsenault, Willard is noted as the first female map maker in America. Her book, Willard's History of the United States, is noted as the first historical atlas of the United States.

The image of a map featured is referred to as “Locations and Wanderings of the Aboriginal Tribes. Visual elements include colors and vectors which serve to illustrate ”settlement and movement patterns of Native Americans in the Eastern U.S." (Bloomberg). According to Bloomberg,  this was not previously used as a method of information visualization for maps.

Today, color and vectors are used in maps, such as when representing geographic information such as bodies of water or roads. The vectors can take the form of lines, dots, shapes, etc.

Map showing settlement and movement patterns of Native Americans
Map showing settlement and movement patterns of Native Americans