Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

Current Projects

GIS Department File Structure

One of the most critical components of any GIS is data management. Because LTBB had existing GIS projects and a data files within several departments, one of the first priorities for the newly formed GIS department was to inventory this existing data and organize these files into a centralized location on the LTBB administration server.

There are many advantages for storing data on the administration server. Files are copied to storage devices on a daily basis, making retrieval of this data (in the event of a systems crash) an option. In addition, a centralized location gives LTBB departments quick and easy access to all available data.

Maintenance of the GIS file structure is an ongoing process performed by the GIS department. Currently, LTBB maintains over 156GB worth of data for project application.

Culturally Significant Areas

‘Culturally Significant’ can mean “Anything that is vital to the continuity of Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians cultural beliefs and practices, both past and present. Such places also include landscapes, historical sites and the residences of spirits.” Wes Andrews 10/04

In order to help target and preserve these sites, the Cultural Areas Working Group was formed, of which the GIS department is a member. The GIS department has since been tasked with developing the data policy and procedures to begin this process, which will define data access and safeguard standards for data of this nature.

LTBB Map Viewer

In 2006, The GIS Department hired a local firm (Infogeographics, Inc. www.infogeographics.com - based in Traverse City) to create a browser-based GIS application using ArcIMS Technology for LTBB governmental operations that enables employees to view, query, manipulate and print existing digital geographic data layers and customized maps.

One of the goals for the LTBB GIS Department is to make available those geographic data layers to all governmental employees within an easy-to-use platform that requires little or no training.

Some outcomes from this service are as follows:

Internal use only (not available on the World Wide Web).
Browser based.
Easily updated (removing, editing and adding information) and maintained by the GIS Department.
Providing the user with basic map functionality - i.e. zoom, query, select by, search, measure, turn layers on/off ...
Ability to print customized maps of save to PDF (or other format) document.
Geographic extents to include 1836 Ceded Territory, mainland andceded waters within the Great Lakes.
Ablity to enter multiple LAT/LON coordinates on map to generate a point, zoom to location.

Wycamp Lake Bathymetry

Due to several requests from departmental personnel for updated bathymetry data (lake bottom contours) on inland lakes, the GIS Department has begun a pilot project on Wycamp Lake located within the LTBB Reservation boundary.

Using the lake surface outline, a series of points (100’ grid spacing) were created in CAD and exported to a GPS handheld receiver (Trimble GeoXT). At each grid point, a depth reading was taken and entered along with Lat/Lon coordinates.

This data will be used to create a 3D representation of the lake bottom for research purposes.

GPS Training

LTBB GIS has been publishing a series of articles in the Odawa Trails recently detailing different aspects of GPS technology. To coincide with these articles, we are assembling a simple training agenda that explains how to navigate with a GPS unit for governmental staff usage, and ultimately interested Tribal Citizens.

Following with the general idea behind ‘GeoCaching’ www.geocaching.com, the user will be able to enter in coordinates for various within the Government/Administration property grounds and navigate to them using handheld GPS units.

2005 Color Aerial Imagery

A component of the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall goal for the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) is to annually acquire accurate aerial photos of all agricultural lands within the United States during peak growing seasons. Made available to the public for minimal fees, analysis of this data can help determine many factors such as overall crop health or crop damage.

In July 2007, the GIS Department acquired a copy of the 2005 NAIP aerials for Emmet, Cheboygan, and Charlevoix Counties. As most aerial imagery is contracted for early spring (in order to more accurately track development and other features that would otherwise be hidden beneath tree cover) these aerials give a good representation of what our landscape looks like during the summer months.