To establish a working rapport with the Natl Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), I've written to the current Director, Cynthia Chavez Lamar, offering my help in creating online programming about the Anacostan and Native History of DC.
In a comment on the letter, Chief Swann of the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe emphasized that the programming should include the living Piscataways, not just their history. I fully agree, and if I'm called on to work on a website addition, the modern Piscataways will certainly be included!
Here's a copy of the letter:
Dr. Cynthia Chavez Lamar
Director, National Museum of the American Indian
January 18, 2024
Dear Dr. Lamar,
Best wishes for 2024! I'm writing to introduce myself and offer any help I might provide so the NMAI would include information on the Native history of Washington, DC, especially the Anacostan/Piscataway people who once walked the land where the NMAI now stands.
In the fall of 2023 I published "Native American History of Washington, DC," (Arcadia Press). In the book I include an account of my efforts since 2016 to encourage the NMAI to address local Native history.* It was in 2016 that I became aware of the Native village that had been identified in the late 1800s on a site less than a 1/2 mile from the NMAI (Garfield Park/Carroll Estate). Since that time I've collected the history of nearly 20 other sites in Washington, DC. They are discussed in detail in my book, and more generally in an interactive map on this website: http://onceasitwasdc.org/.
I would be happy to meet with you, or members of your staff, to discuss how this topic might be added to the public materials of the NMAI. I suspect the most feasible and cost effective format would be as an online exhibit.
Sincerely yours,
Armand
Armand Lione, Ph.D.
Director, DC Native History Project
202.487.7092
http://onceasitwasdc.org/
*My previous correspondence with Kevin Gover can be found on this website: https://nativevillagemarker.blogspot.com/
