- Details
- By Kaili Berg
Margaret Wickens Pearce, a cartographer and Clark University alumna, has been named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Pearce, a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, is known for creating maps that center Indigenous understandings of land and place. Her work brings visibility to Indigenous stories and knowledge that have often been erased from traditional maps.
“I feel very moved to be recognized,” Pearce said in a press release.
The MacArthur Fellowship, often called the “genius grant,” honors creative individuals who show exceptional originality and dedication. Each recipient receives an $800,000 award with no restrictions on how it can be used.
Pearce earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in geography from Clark University’s Graduate School of Geography, now part of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society.
She first discovered her passion for cartography at Hampshire College, where a single class sparked her lifelong fascination with maps as a way to tell stories.
Pearce runs Studio 1:1 in Rockland, Maine, located on Penobscot traditional territory, where she collaborates with Indigenous communities to bring their histories and languages to life through maps.
“Please join me in congratulating Dr. Pearce for her achievement, commitment to making our world a better place, and representing Clark so well,” Clark University President David Fithian said in a press release.
Pearce’s 2008 project, “They Would Not Take Me There,” co-created with other scholars, reimagines the landscapes explored by Samuel de Champlain in the 1600s, incorporating Native place names and imagined dialogue from First Nations people to reflect their perspectives.
In 2017, her map “Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada” restored traditional Indigenous names to locations across Canada, created with input and permission from hundreds of communities.
Pearce also contributed to the 2020 investigative project “Land-Grab Universities,” which visualized how land taken from tribal nations was used to fund more than 50 U.S. colleges and universities, a stark reminder of the ongoing legacy of dispossession in higher education.
Her current project, Mississippi Dialogues, is a collaboration with tribal nations to reimagine the Mississippi River through Indigenous knowledge and environmental stewardship.
“I feel a responsibility to use the skills and the dedication I have to make change wherever I can,” Pearce said.
More Stories Like This
Native News Weekly (August 25, 2024): D.C. BriefsUS Presidents in Their Own Words Concerning American Indians
Oral History Project Announces 14th Stop in Portland, Oregon: NABS Continues to Gather Crucial Stories Across Indian Country
Tribal Governments Fend Off the Worst of the Impacts of the Shutdown
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
