Town Crier Articles

 

November is Native American Indian Heritage Month, and it aims to provide a platform for Native People to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life.   It recognizes the contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States.  If you wish to celebrate or find out more about the impact of Native American Indians in Williamsburg and Virginia, there is a lot going on in the local area.

 

On our doorstep at Colonial Williamsburg, if you visit the American Indian Encampment site, you can explore the lives of American Indians who came to Williamsburg with regularity in the 18th century to discuss matters of trade, warfare and diplomacy.  There is no single story of Native American Indians in Williamsburg.  Each tribe and nation had their own interactions here in the city.  You can meet and learn from their American Indian interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg, who celebrate the American Indian culture, tell the histories of their communities and help to explore the culture of Native peoples who are striving to preserve their traditional way of life.  During your visit and conversations with the interpreters, you will also be able to learn about the roles they played in creating a new country.  

 

 

In addition, if you take a walk around the College of William and Mary, look out for the Brafferton Building, which was the home of the Indian School at William and Mary.  Using funds from the estate of British scientist Robert Boyle, the college of William and Mary established a school to educate young Indian men in 1697, just four years after the college’s founding.  The American Revolution caused British financial support to cease in 1776 and the school soon closed.   

 

To learn more about Native American Heritage month, take a look at this website.