Virginia, like much of North America, has a very rich history of Native American culture and communities that reside and have resided within the commonwealth. There are eleven Virginia state recognized tribes within the state of Virginia, all of which have unique cultural practices and histories.  Despite this, there seems to be a lack of easily accessible resources and conversation starters about Indigenous communities in many areas of the United States. This is something that must be addressed, as everyone, not just Indigenous communities, are negatively affected by colonization. The effects of colonization and erasure of Indigenous history are still in effect in many aspects of our lives today. In order to deconstruct some of the harm and trauma, an understanding of Indigenous Tribes in our area is a great start, and can benefit everyone. There is much to learn about the numerous tribes that have lived or are still living within our very own areas. The layout of Native American tribes throughout Virginia has shifted a great deal since the beginning of colonization, which is information that appears to not be very well understood by Virginia residents. Learning more about indigenous communities can create a better understanding of the people within those communities, who continue to be a very important part of the culture of the United States. 

This is something that we have discussed and are passionate about in our Race and Gender Class with Deanna Durham. In order to spread information about indigenous communities, our group proposed that we should install a map of the indigenous tribes who are from Virginia for our Social Change Project. We feel that this map will be an excellent source of information about the Indigenous tribes of Virginia, and an interesting visual aid for how these communities have shifted since colonization. It is very fascinating to learn about which tribes live in areas that we are from, areas that we have been to, and even areas around the EMU Campus. This map can also help spread information about the tribes that have been erased or are underrepresented due to colonization, which can be progressive for recognizing the harm that has been done to these communities. We are hoping this map will be supported by EMU’s students, staff and faculty. We hope each and every person who cares to examine it can learn something about this area and the tribes that live here or have lived here before.  Our Social Change Project group is currently working on gathering information to put into this map. We are reaching out to different tribe members, online resources and on campus resources in order to make sure our map is well done, accurate, and respectful to the indigenous communities. We are planning on the map placement being in the upper level of University Commons. We are currently planning for materials needed for the construction of the map, and how to visualize the information that we are acquiring. We are also planning to have all the logistics of the map completed by early to mid April, and hopefully the map will be installed by the end of this semester, but if not by then, over summer/next semester.