Tag:boundary=indigenous_administration
 boundary = indigenous_administration
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The boundary of an area administered by an indigenous group, or a subdivision of such an area. 
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| Status: in use |
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In some parts of the world, an indigenous group exercises sovereignty or autonomy over an area that overlaps a country's principal administrative hierarchy. The indigenous government's legal authority may extend beyond mere land ownership to include jurisdiction over residents and commercial activity. The area may be further subdivided into political subdivisions that conflict with boundary=administrative boundaries, especially when considering admin_level=* numbering.
Rationale
boundary=aboriginal_lands is the only tag that has been formally approved to represent an indigenous territory of any kind. It is supported by multiple data consumers. However, the tag does not distinguish between land ownership and civil administration, and on its face it may be mistaken for a representation of a traditional homeland, raising concerns about verifiability.[1] Concerns have been raised about the tag's apparent lack of emphasis on administration, dating back to its original vote. Moreover, the tag is not designed to accommodate the subdivisions of a reservation.[2] boundary=indigenous_administration is thought to address some of these issues, by analogy with boundary=religious_administration, but has not yet come up for approval. In the meantime, it is used for some purposes that do not fit the definition of boundary=aboriginal_lands.
Examples
In the United States, an Indian reservation is governed by a parallel system of tribal government with jurisdiction over a territory that overlaps non-Native jurisdictions. Some large reservations have been subdivided into multiple levels of administrative areas that go by different names, such as divisions, districts, agencies, and chapters. These subdivisions do not necessarily correspond to states or counties. As a stopgap, the U.S. community currently uses boundary=aboriginal_lands for the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and boundary=indigenous_administration for any subdivisions. For example, the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation is tagged boundary=aboriginal_lands. The reservation's District 1 is tagged boundary=indigenous_administration.
Software support
As of August 2026, no renderer supports this tag yet. This also means that no renderer inadvertently shows subdivisions of an indigenous area that crowd out the overall indigenous area. Nominatim returns indigenous administrative boundaries as with any kind of boundary.
References
- ↑ “The end of the section on Indian reservations on the United States admin level page on the wiki is very vague”. OpenStreetMap Community Forum. November 28, 2025.
- ↑ “Indian Reservation Sublevel Tagging”. OpenStreetMap Community Forum. January 4, 2024.