Press Release

October 4 , 2007
Contact:
                                    Sheryl Hayes
                                    Phone: (434)924-3296
                                    Fax: (434)296-4714
Sheryl@virginia.edu
www.virginiafoundation.org
For Immediate Release

VFH Hires First Director of Virginia Indian Heritage Program

Charlottesville, VA     In Virginia, where history and tradition reign, there is one area in which public education is lacking: Virginians grow up and live here knowing almost nothing about Virginia Indians.  Despite the fact that Indian ancestors were living here for thousands of years, few non-Indian people in Virginia today have ever met a Virginia Indian; they know little about Virginia Indian history, and most assume that Virginia Indians are people of the past.  The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) in partnership with tribal leaders in Virginia has established a program to address this problem and has hired Karenne Wood as its first director.

Wood, a member of the Monacan Indian Nation and a long-time advocate for Virginia’s native communities, previously served as Chair of the Virginia Council on Indians, a gubernatorial appointment.  She has studied at George Mason University and the University of Virginia,
where she holds a Ford Predoctoral Fellowship.  “Our elders have taught us that the history of our people is portrayed inaccurately,” she says.  “We have an obligation to those who came before us--our ancestors and elders--to correct the stereotypes and misperceptions of
the past.”

The Virginia Indian Heritage Program will include research and a resulting database that will be housed on-line at a VFH website; summer institutes for K-12 teachers; higher education summits to promote educational opportunities for American Indians in Virginia; and a grant program to provide funds for tribes, intertribal groups, museums, and other organizations to implement or improve their interpretation of Virginia Indian history.  The Virginia Indian Heritage Program is funded in part by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Throughout its thirty-four year history, VFH has been telling the untold stories of Virginia, including the story of its indigenous citizens.  "The VFH strives to create the most complete picture of Virginia, and of its complex history," according to David Bearinger, Director of Grants and Public Programs. "Karenne was the perfect choice to direct the Virginia Indian Heritage Program because she brings to this work a unique blend of passion, intellect, and experience--an understanding of the past, sensitivity to the issues of the present, and a vision for the future."

Chief Kenneth Adams of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe made numerous visits to the Virginia General Assembly with other chiefs to support funding for this program.  He notes: “We now have an opportunity to portray the Virginia Indian in a proper light. We cannot continue to
be the forgotten people in the Virginia history books or on the landmarks across this Commonwealth.  Our Creator placed us here as the gatekeepers of this land, and our
magnificent story can not and will not be buried.”

Earlier this year, VFH published The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail, a guide to locations which have accurate, culturally sensitive interpretative content on Virginia Indians.  The guide provides an interpretive framework or context in which to understand the sites. The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail publication was developed by the Virginia Council on Indians with support from Jamestown 2007, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, the Virginia General Assembly, and the VFH.  The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail provides anaccessible general introduction to Virginia Indian history, heritage, and contemporary life. Copies of the book are available through the VFH website (www.virginiafoundation.org).

This summer, VFH offered the first state-wide teachers’ institute to be taught collaboratively by Virginia Indian tribal leaders and academic experts. Public school teachers spent four days learning about indigenous history and cultures, regional ecology, archaeology, and contemporary experiences of tribal members who were denied access to public education until 1963.  Similar institutes will be offered next summer in various regions of the state.

Future plans for the program include the development of web-based lesson plans for teachers and other educational materials, museum exhibits and public programs, a second edition of The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail, new publications focused on tribal histories and historic
images, and other projects.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, based in Charlottesville, is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the humanities, and to using the humanities to address issues of broad public concern.

In all of its programs, the Foundation works to make scholarship accessible; to promote understanding and discussion of enduring and contemporary issues; and to broaden the range of educational opportunities available to all Virginians.   

For further information, contact Sheryl Hayes at 434-924-3296 or Sheryl@virginia.edu.