Virginia Indians

Oral History Project

Members of the Oral History Project Team.

During the summer of 2000 three anthropology students from the College of William and Mary; Rebecca Costanzo, Erin Gaffney and Amy Cadge gathered information from tribal leaders from the eight state-recognized tribes for the Virginia Indian Oral History Project. The oral history project was suggested by the late Thomasina E. Jordan, in her capacity as Chair of the Virginia Council on Indians and conducted under the direction of Dr. Danielle Moretti-Langholtz. The students videotaped interviews with the respective chiefs on a range of topics both past and present.

All interviews were transcribed and edited into the 37 minute documentary titled, In Our Own Words: Voices of Virginia Indians. This documentary received a Certificate of Commendation in September of 2003 from the American Association for State and Local History. Financial support for the documentary was given by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and the Department of Anthropology.

Native peoples have lived on the land we now call Virginia for thousands of years. Written records were not made by these peoples. However, they did pass on information from one generation to another by telling stories and sharing traditions in spoken words. This way of remembering history is called oral tradition. When European settlers arrived in North America they created written records or documents. The early written records include such things as reports, letters and maps. Today Native peoples use both written and oral traditions to remember their history.

The American Indian Resource Center is pleased to be part of the Virginia Indian Oral History Project, and we are continuing to gather Native-centered stories and commentaries on the Virginia Indian experience.