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Monacan Indian Village comes to
Virginia's Shenandoah Valley
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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