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Construction begins Nov. 1, '99--Interpretive Program
begins Apr. 1, '00
Natural Bridge, VA- Monacans return to their sacred site, the Natural
Bridge, to reclaim their cultural heritage and share the recovered
pieces with the world.
Participate in their Living History Center - a Monacan
Indian Village
Village visitors will journey back 300 years to a fun and inspiring
family-oriented living history center where they can meet and talk with
Monacan Indians in period appropriate dress, and participate in the
village construction and demonstrations while learning how Woodland
Indians lived from the forest. "The whole village is a demonstration,"
says the program director. A visitor may learn about and assist with
tool-making, gardening and meal preparation, rope-making, weaving, canoe
building, hide tanning, shelter construction, and more. Over several
years it will grow using local resources from the forest and traditional
techniques. "The village is a work in progress; it can't be put up
overnight," says the Interpretive History Director, Dean Ferguson. "Also
keeping with authenticity, daily activities will change with the
seasons. So, coming during different seasons means seeing different
activities and an expanding village," he further explains. The
present-day Tribe views their village as a monument to the Monacan
Indian Nation, communicating yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Monacan Indians & Their Descendents Were Written
Off the Books, But Not Off the Face of the Earth
Before colonists arrived, the Monacans roamed the areas of Virginia,
West Virginia, and the Carolinas. Their original territory comprised
almost half of Virginia. One of the oldest groups of indigenous people
in Virginia, Monacans were agricultural people who were proficient at
farming, hunting, fishing, mining and trading copper, basket-making,
pottery, among other traditions. According to Mr. Ferguson, no one else
is interpreting the history of the Southwestern Piedmont Indians.
Monacan history, dating back 10,000 years, is an important part of
Virginia's history, wrote Jeffrey Hantman, a Professor of Anthropology
and Archaeology at the University of Virginia, in 1992.
Their first known encounter with Europeans was with Captain John
Smith in 1608. His notes identified 5 Monacan villages on the James
River and 5 other villages on the Rappahannock River. In the late 1 700s
Thomas Jefferson excavated a Burial Mound near his land in
Charlottesville, which has been identified as Monacan. Similar mounds
have been located in the Valley, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont, and
identified with Monacan culture. Archaeological research identifies a
continuous line of Late Woodland (1600s) Monacan sites along the James
and Rappahannock river systems.
Current archaeological investigations are conducted by University of
Virginia and Longwood College. Many artifacts have been found near the
town of Columbia in Amherst County.
According to Peter Houck and Mintcy Maxham in their recent book,
Indian Island in Amherst County, as white traders, explorers, colonists,
immigrants, and freed slaves settled, a series of events, English laws,
and 19th and recent 20th century Virginia laws evolved that wrote the
Monacans off the books in Virginia and onto a "hit list." To seek
salvation, many fled north and westward in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Many that remained eventually purchased land on Bear Mountain where they
established a small Indian community. By the 20th century the families
lost their land and claim to both their white and Indian heritage. Not
permitted to exist as "Indians" under the Virginia Racial Integrity Law
of 1924, the Monacans had become Virginia's forgotten people. Not until
the mid-1960s, were they permitted to attend Amherst County public
schools.
In 1989, Virginia finally acknowledged the Monacans; the tribe became
the State's 8th officially Recognized Tribe. They have raised funds to
purchase back land on their ancestral Bear Mountain and reclaim their
heritage; the Monacan Ancestral Museum Heritage Foundation continues
fundraising to grow the museum. The 1870s log cabin that operated as a
church and school for the Indians is now a National Historic Landmark.
Through their pow wows, museum, and now a village, Monacans strive to
bridge their lost past with their future in the Blue Ridge.
The Legend of The Monacan Indians and the Natural
Bridge
According to legend the Monacan Indians discovered the Bridge while
under attack by Algonquin tribes. When the Monacans reached the chasm of
Cedar Creek without a visible way to cross over, they knelt down and
prayed for the Great Spirit to protect them. When they arose from
praying the Bridge had appeared. Women and children crossed to safety.
With renewed strength and courage, the men followed but not until after
they met and defeated the Algonquins. Today, the span of the massive
215-foot tall Natural Bridge, once owned by Thomas Jefferson, carries
Route 11 across a mountain gap the width of New York's Broadway.
Monacans will be along the Cedar Creek Trail constructing the village
beyond the Bridge beginning November 1, 1999; the Interpretive program
begins on April 1, 2000. Also on-site are Caverns, a Wax Museum, Hotel
and Conference Center, and restaurants. Natural Bridge is located on
Route 11, 2 miles off 1-81 exit 175 or 180; follow signs to Natural
Bridge. For more information, contact Natural Bridge of Virginia,
800-533-1410.
To learn more about Natural Bridge visit our Website:
www.naturalbridgeva.com; or e-mail:
Natbrg@aol.com
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