Up until the mid-18th century, the land which would eventually become Montgomery County (MoCo) was home to a group of American Indians called the Piscataway tribe. Now, over 200 years after the tribe was forced from their ancestral land, their history and culture are finally being celebrated.
Nov. was declared Native American Heritage Month (NAHM) by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to garner appreciation for the stories, languages and traditions of America’s native people. This year in MoCo, the event was celebrated by various organizations through local events, educational opportunities and historical research.
One of these organizations is the Maryland Historical Trust, an agency of the Maryland Department of Planning which specializes in research and historical conservation. On top of publishing information on Maryland’s native tribes, MHT hosts numerous NAHM-related festivities each year, a tradition which they continued this Nov.
“One of the major events that MHT holds at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum every year is American Indian Heritage Day. This annual event features native dancers, educational and technology demonstrations in our reconstructed Indian village, activities for kids and artifact exhibits,” Chief Archaeologist for the Maryland Historical Trust Matthew McKnight said.
Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) hosted a myriad of lectures, discussions and shows to commemorate the month. These included a virtual conversation with Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr. on his paranormal investigations in the southwest, musical storytelling by Mwalim “DaPhunkee Professor” on African-Native American cultural interaction and a traditional dance performance by Southwest Dancers.
Montgomery College also recognized the month’s significance through a land acknowledgement delivered by Rico Newman, an elder of the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe (a 20th-century reconstruction of the Piscataway tribe). In his statement, Newman said, “We celebrate this land as the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement to peaceably share and care, as stewards for this land known to us as Montgomery County.”
Since its creation, NAHM has evolved into a celebration of not just native history, but current native communities and their perseverance in the face of centuries-long discrimination. In MoCo this Nov., celebrators attempted to draw its focus further toward that perseverance as well as the unique cultures that have endured or been revived as a result.
“There are vibrant Native American communities around Maryland and the nation and it is wrong to think of Native cultures as something of the past. It is very much something of the present,” McKnight said.
Curriculums for MCPS social studies classes have shifted in recent years toward a more native-inclusive perspective on American Indian history. Although the public school system lacks major celebrations during the month, many teachers try to incorporate NAHM-related values into their lessons.
“I try to look at things from the perspective of what was happening to Amerindians [an alternative name for American Indians] and how unfairly they were treated, as opposed to the way that I think someone 30 or 40 years ago teaching US History might’ve approached it,” Walter Johnson High School social studies teacher Katherine Simmons said. “It’s very evident how Amerindian history was either not taught at all or taught very differently, even in the time when I was in school, compared to today.”
Although NAHM ‘24 has come to a close, recognizing and celebrating Native heritage is a year-round effort, which is sure to be continued in Montgomery County far into the future.
Written by Jay Resnik