OFFERINGS TO THE POTOMAC: ACKNOWLEDGING INDIGENOUS PLACE
/OFFERINGS TO THE POTOMAC
ACKNOWLEDGING INDIGENOUS PLACE
February 10 - April 18, 2025
Buchanan Hall Atrium Gallery
Northern Virginia has long been the destination of migrants from both Central and South America, which has led to the development of robust Latinx communities in the region, and which is reflected in Mason’s diverse student body.
These identities are complicated, shaped both, but not always equally, by a relationship to national homelands (Bolivia, El Salvador, Peru, etc.) and to an indigenous ancestry.
In February 2023, George Mason University’s Center for Humanities Research was awarded a $50,000 seed grant from Mason’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force for “IndigenoUs Northern Virginia: Activating Local and Diasporic Native Identities at Mason.”
“IndigenoUs Northern Virginia” will bring the Mason community into contact with site-specific and community-based indigenous knowledge and history to activate a too-often submerged Native American presence on our campus and in our region. From the Doeg and Piscataway ancient lands on which we live, to the intertribal American Indian population and the dynamic diasporic Latin American indigenous communities that persist in the present, Northern Virginia is a Native place.
To make this deep history visible and meaningful, “IndigenoUs Northern Virginia” will create opportunities for experiential place-based learning through site visits to sacred and historic indigenous sites; inspire deep discussions on campus through native knowledge round table dialogues; and incorporate and foster these objectives through ongoing work at the Public History Lab and a series of existing courses on these topics. Taken together, these activities will enable an exploration of identity for Mason students, faculty, and staff who are interested in indigeneity in the broadest sense. Furthermore, this knowledge has the capacity to foster respect across categories of difference, and in so doing to foster a culture of anti-racism.
This interaction is meant to inspire self-awareness, place connection, and considerations for ways to affix Indigeneity durably in Northern Virginia. Most specifically, as Woodlawn is embedded in Tauxenent land and waterways, this work enlivens place-based awareness. We open conversation with contemporary local tribal, intertribal, and immigrant Indigenous communities through creative objects, remembrances, and relational hopes for this place in Northern Virginia. Indigenous community partners (including but not limited to Mayan, Quechua, Aymara, North American Urban Inter-Tribal, and local Piscataway and Rappahannock) are invited to re/introduce themselves to Tauxenent, with customary offerings in creative object form, spoken words, and expressive cultural presentation. For the campus version succeeding Woodlawn in August, we will invite student artists of all backgrounds to create pieces that speak with mindfulness to Tauxenent.
Mayan Community
A rapidly growing community in the past few years, Mayan people are establishing new homes in Northern Virginia. Tens of thousands speak a Mayan language (there are over 20 distinct languages) in our area. The International Mayan League leads programs in Centreville, serving the wider DMV area. Fleeing violence, discrimination, and poverty in the wake of a genocidal war in the 1980s, Mayan people hope to find safety and opportunities here.
Andean Community
The Andean Indigenous community is now a long-standing one in Northern Virginia. Most community members have Quechua or Aymara roots in Bolivia and Peru. There are at least 7,000 Indigenous language speakers in our region. Vibrant dance and cultural organizations have been enlivening NoVa for decades. In fact, Northern Virginia is home to the largest Quechua speaking population outside of Bolivia. We will be working with individuals active in various community organizations. They all have ties to this project and to Mason.
Local Inter-Tribal Community
The local Inter-Tribal community is highly diverse in the Northern Virginia and DMV area. This team will engage with urban and suburban inter-tribal people and members of local tribes (i.e. Piscataway). Local tribal people have been in the area since time immemorial and are very much a part of contemporary life. Inter-tribal people include those belonging to tribes in the US and Canada who came to the DC area for work. Many Native Americans have jobs in government and organizations involved in political, legal, and social affairs. There is a 50-year-old cultural organization, the American Indian Society. There are also grassroots networks bringing people together in drum groups, activism, education, and spiritual circles.