HSMC to Host Indigenous Heritage Day
Join Historic St. Mary’s City for Indigenous Heritage Day from 10am to 4pm Saturday, September 9, 2023.
The annual event will be filled with ongoing demonstrations in the Woodland Indian Hamlet exhibit area of the outdoor museum. Indigenous Heritage Day will be a culturally enriching family event for all ages and a perfect way to spend a Saturday.
Not to be missed is the 1pm performance by Mark Tayac and the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers. From Tayac Territory (Port Tobacco, MD), Mark Tayac travels with the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers presenting a colorful, educational, and entertaining pow wow-style event featuring American Indian Dance, Drum & Song that tells of American Indian history, culture, and traditions.
Also featured will be Drew Shuptar-Rayvis and his program “Eight Coats, Seven Shirts, Fifteen Fathom Wampum: Early Colonial Settlement and the First Deeds.” This program is meant for ages 8 through adult.
Drew Shuuptar-Rayvis will be at Historic St. Mary’s City from 10am to 4pm, with demonstrations and discussions ongoing throughout the day. Talks will include topics such as the interconnected relationships between the Dutch, Swedes, English, and Algonkian peoples in their respective regions/colonies; the adaptation of Native American life to European settlement and trade goods, including the importance and use of wampum through this critical period along the Atlantic and mid-Atlantic regions (south western Connecticut to Maryland); the magnitude of the earliest American culture clashes through customs of war, adoption, captivity, alliance, friendships and marriages between Natives, Europeans and Africans; the discrepancies in the concepts of land ownership and usage; and the overshadowed early colonial conflicts: the Peach War, Kieft’s War, King Phillip’s War, and King William’s War.
Indigenous Heritage Day will take place outdoors, rain or shine. All activities will take place at the Woodland Indian Hamlet exhibit on Historic St. Mary’s City museum grounds.
Cost: $10 adult; $9 seniors; $6 youth (6-18); and free for those 5 and younger and museum members.
Admission includes access to special activities.
Admission will be available to purchase at The Shop at Farthing’s Ordinary at 47414 Old State House Road or the HSMC Visitor Center at 18751 Hogaboom Lane in St. Mary’s City.
