2021 Conference Presentation

Keynote: Working with Virginia’s Tribes to Conserve Tribal Lands

Land conservation is often an intermingled story of people and the lives they lived on the land.  Which stories we tell and which people are represented in those stories drives many conservation decisions.  How do we go about broadening the conversation and better understanding the stories of those that lived on the land before European colonization?  How are Virginia’s Indian Tribes thinking about reclaiming their ancestral lands and continuing to make their mark on the landscape?  This panel will explore steps we can take to understand the needs of Virginia’s Tribes and how we can recognize and honor the history and future of tribal stewardship of the Virginia landscape. 

Moderator: Heather Richards, The Conservation Fund

Presenters:

• Chief Anne Richardson, Rappahannock Tribe
• Chief Frank Adams, Upper Mattaponi Tribe
• Marion Werkheiser, Cultural Heritage Partners
• Elizabeth Kostelny, Preservation Virginia

Presention Slides: