Demonstration , Events

Indigenous Heritage Day

18751 Hogaboom Lane
St. Mary's City , 20686

Saturday, September 09, 2023

10:00am - 4:00pm

301-994-4370

Info@DigsHistory.org

Demonstration, Events

Indigenous Heritage Day

18751 Hogaboom Lane
St. Mary's City , 20686

09 Sep 2023

10:00am - 4:00pm

Overview
Join Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC) for Indigenous Heritage Day from 10 a.m.—4 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, 2023. The annual event will be filled with ongoing demonstrations at the Woodland Indian Hamlet that highlight traditional methods in hide tanning, pottery, and cooking.
- More information will be posted as we continue to plan for the day. Please check back for the most up-to-date information
1:00 p.m.

Performance by Mark Tayac and the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers. From Tayac Territory (Port Tobacco, MD), Mark Tayac travels with the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers presenting a colorful, educational and entertaining pow wow-style event featuring American Indian Dance, Drum & Song that tells of American Indian history, culture, and traditions.

Ongoing demonstrations throughout the day:

Pottery

Meet with members of HSMC staff as they demonstrate Late-Woodland Indian pottery techniques.

Nature’s Bounty

HSMC staff demonstrate the many plants, native and invasive, throughout the landscape that can be used by humans.

Clothing

HSMC staff show how to preserve animal skins and how those skins can be made into clothing. (Visitor discretion advised, not for the squeamish.)

Canoe Burning

HSMC staff will use fire as a power tool and demonstrate burning a dugout canoe.

Archaeology

HSMC curators from our research department will display and expound upon the Native American artifacts that have been found on HSMC property.

Drew Shuptar-Rayvis: “Eight Coats, Seven Shirts, Fifteen Fathom Wampum: Early Colonial Settlement and the First Deeds.”

Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, an algonkian living historian of the 17th and 18th century of the mid Atlantic, will be at the event with his program “Eight Coats, Seven Shirts, Fifteen Fathom Wampum: Early Colonial Settlement and the First Deeds.” This program is meant for ages eight through adult. Drew Shuptar-Rayvis will be onsite from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., with demonstrations and discussions taking place throughout the day. His program will include topics such as: the interconnected relationships between the Dutch, Swedes, English, and Algonkian peoples in their respective regions/colonies; the adaptation of Native American life to European settlement and trade goods, including the importance and use of wampum through this critical period along the Atlantic and mid-Atlantic regions (south-western CT to MD); the magnitude of the earliest American culture clashes through customs of war, adoption, captivity, alliance, friendships and marriages between Natives, Europeans, and Africans; the discrepancies in the concepts of land ownership and usage; and the overshadowed early colonial conflicts: the Peach War, Kieft’s War, King Phillip’s War, and King William’s War.

Indigenous Heritage Day will take place outdoors, rain or shine

Admission for the day will be available to purchase at The Shop at Farthing’s Ordinary or the HSMC Visitor Center (18751 Hogaboom Lane, St. Mary’s City, Md 20686)

September 9
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

$10 adult; $9 senior; $6 student; free to ages 5 and younger. Free to museum members.