Mapping the Way to Indigenous Empowerment and Land Claims

Evolving Web worked closely with Mapping the Way to rebuild their Drupal 7 website on Drupal 10. We improved the website architecture to keep visitors on their site, while optimizing the search capabilities. We also redesigned the interface to reflect and celebrate the First Nations’ histories, stories and culture, as well as their ties to the land. The new website contextualizes the Self-Government Agreements and reflects Mapping the Way’s mission.

Mapping the Way (MTW) is a non-partisan public education initiative of the Implementation Working Group (IWG) made up of the 11 self-governing Yukon First Nations, the Council of Yukon First Nations and the governments of Yukon and Canada. They aim to increase awareness of Yukon First Nations Final and Self-Government Agreements and showcase how these agreements benefit all Yukoners. Mapping the Way is also a celebration of the culture and the stories of the 11 First Nations.

The main objective of the project was to rebuild the Drupal 7 website in Drupal 10 and redesign it to better reflect Mapping the Way’s mission of raising awareness of the agreements while telling the stories of the 11 First Nations.

The client needed to move their website away from Drupal 7, as support for this version is ending soon, and also wanted to take advantage of all the newer Drupal 10 capabilities. What originally was envisioned as a migration ended up being a fresh rebuild, which allowed for a new and improved site architecture and a rebrand which resonated with their audience and mission. 

The previous website lacked breadcrumbs and a clear path to keep users within the website. Without clear suggestions of related content to dive further into, users would quickly leave the website. 

The main project deliverables included: 

• A new bilingual site built in Drupal 10
• Requirements gathering to clarify the design objectives
• Accessible design that follows WCAG AA
• A front-end that leverages Tailwind and Bootstrap
• A redesign that visually conveys the First Nations’ stories, focusing on people and their vital relationship with the land. 
• A new stylescape to define new overall visual aesthetic of the Mapping the Way brand
• A new sitemap that restructured the website to keep visitors on it and reorganized the content in a way that's user friendly
• Moving to Pantheon cloud hosting to allow for better developer workflow 

A thorough content audit revealed the need to restructure the site so we facilitated better content organization and navigation by leveraging Drupal's taxonomy capabilities. Through meticulous categorization, we interconnected stories, communities, and agreement using tags, fostering an immersive exploration experience that kept users engaged. We brought all the Agreements together in a dedicated space, providing visitors with historical context, while also linking related content for users to discover more.

One limitation we recognize is that we did not have a First Nations designer on our team. This meant we had to take extra care in listening, learning, and understanding our client’s needs so that we could fulfill their mandate of actively communicating the First Nations’ stories. 

The design pays tribute to the 11 First Nations’ history and legacy while at the same time embracing their rich culture and diversity. We opted for an editorial approach, aiming to refine the scaling and arrangement of items, while also integrating stronger storytelling to seamlessly guide users to relevant content. The design, reminiscent of newspapers, showcases large serif font titles to channel the users attention through a well-defined visual hierarchy. The loose, map-inspired layout and logo creates a sense of exploration and movement, as do striking images that highlight the landscape and the people in varying sizes and placements.

Historical black and white photos evoke the past, while vibrant coloured photos highlight the present day people and landscape. Red accents throughout draw the eyes to important elements like calls-to-action and titles, while also featuring prominently in the photos, creating a feeling of celebration. Teal serves as a contrast colour for increased visibility and a more scannable layout. The beige background complements the organic feel of the logo, connecting to the land. 

Overall, the design creates an engaging, visually appealing experience while effectively guiding users through relevant information.

Our web agency undertook a comprehensive redesign and rebuild in Drupal 10. Evolving Web successfully delivered a visually engaging and functionally robust website for the Yukon government. 

Given the context of the historical injustice the Canadian government and people have caused to our First Nations’ populations, it is more important than ever to honour their history and integral contributions to shaping the Canadian identity. Mapping the Way raises awareness of the 11 Self-Government Agreements, celebrating the First Nations’ cultures and identities. The Yukon’s progress in self-governing positions it as a trailblazer, offering inspiration to the other First Nations aspiring to achieve autonomy and self-determination.