Exhibition-Related Events
View recordings and photographs of events related to the Library’s Indigenous Perspectives exhibition.
Panel Discussion | The Centennial of the Passage of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924
March 20, 2024 marked the centennial of the date the Racial Integrity Act was signed into law. This legislation was designed to stop the “intermixture” of white and Black people in Virginia. The act banned interracial marriage and defined a white person as one “with no trace of the blood of another race.” For Indigenous Virginians, the Racial Integrity Act began a paper genocide that eliminated them from Virginia’s written records.
Gregory Smithers, Ph.D., professor of American history at Virginia Commonwealth University, moderated the discussion with First Assistant Chief Wayne Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Chief Lynette Allston of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Assistant Chief Louise “Lou” Wratchford of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and Chief Robert Gray of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.
“Union Tooth and Nail”: Pamunkey Indians and the Civil War
Anthropologist Ashley Spivey, Ph.D., a citizen of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, discussed the Pamunkey engagement in the Civil War as Union veterans and supporters. Indigenous people played pivotal roles in the unfolding of Virginia’s history, engaging in the economic, political, social and cultural events that have shaped the commonwealth. Learn why the Pamunkey chose to support the Union and the various roles they played during the Civil War in Virginia. Pulling from their intimate knowledge of the riverine landscape, Pamunkey men served as pilots and scouts on Union gunboats that traversed Virginia waterways. Pamunkey women held ground on the reservation, working to aid Union soldiers who encamped near the community throughout the war.
Book Talk with Lora Chilton | 1666: A Novel
Author Lora Chilton discussed her new work of historical fiction, 1666: A Novel, the survival story of the Patawomeck tribe of Virginia. Chilton, a member of the Patawomeck through the lineage of her father, used written colonial records and tribal oral tradition to imagine the lives of the Patawomeck women who were sold into slavery and shipped to Barbados to work in the sugar fields after the massacre of the tribe’s men in the summer of 1666. Against all odds, two women survive and, with determination and bravery, make their way back to their Virginia homeland. Chilton discussed her use of Indigenous names and some of the Patawomeck language in the book, as well as her motivation for writing the novel. A book signing followed the talk.
Indigenous Perspectives Closing Celebration
The Library presented an Indigenous Perspectives exhibition closing celebration featuring performances and displays from tribal representatives. A drumming circle, dancing and demonstrations of traditional crafts celebrated Virginia’s 11 federally and state-recognized tribes.