The Turtle Island Hall of Honor (TIHOH) project is proud to announce the appointment of Aaron Carapella to our board of directors. Aaron is the Creator of the Tribal Nations Map, a map that represents what Turtle Island looked like in 1490. It was a labor of love an duty, taking him 14 years and thousands of hours. The map shows where roughly 590 Native nations were located and gives their proper indigenous names, instead of the names given by Europeans.
Being part Cherokee, or Aniyunwiyah, and having grown up in the city, he’s always sought more knowledge of Native history and culture. “I would attend pow wows and scour through the items vendors had for sell [sic]. From time to time I would see maps of the traditional territories of our tribes, but thought they looked incomplete, and the names mostly inaccurate. I filed away the idea of one day creating a more authentic-looking one myself,” Carapella says on his website. “Years went by as I looked from time to time for a better map. One day I decided, ‘It’s time to make a REAL map of Native America, as WE see it.’ It started with four poster boards and a rough pencil drawing of the United States. Over the next 14 years I would create the Tribal Nations Map.”
Aaron is of European and Cherokee descent and can speak the Cherokee language. He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and is considering returning to school to get a master’s degree in Native American studies so that he can pursue his interest in Native American history.
TIHOH group welcomes Aaron enthusiasm and dedication towards the ongoing promotion and development of TIHOH. A project which goes hand and hand with his years of dedication to his own Tribal Nations Map. We look forward to his enthusiasm and knowledge base as contributing to the growth of TIHOH.
Read more at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/27/1491-census-native-creates-tribal-nations-map-turtle-island-150142