Role: Assistant Editor

Festivals: 2019 Mountainfilm, 2020 EarthxFilm, 2019 Kendal Mountain Festival

Jim Enote was dissatisfied with the way that maps represented his home of Zuni, New Mexico. He is intimately connected with his land, continuing a farming practice passed down to him by his ancestors. He began to think that Zuni people should make their own maps of the area.

After all, they knew all of the stories, all of the original names, where each animal lived, where each medicinal plant grew, and where there were pictures carved on the red rock walls, messages from generations passed. Jim calls those carvings his library.

Working with local Zuni artists, he created a series of maps that oriented around culturally significant sites. “Counter Mapping” is an example of what maps could be, a gateway to connect with place and history, rather than just a way to navigate from point A to point B.