Native Land Acknowledgment for the NMAI in DC?

Dear Kevin Gover,

As you know, there is a growing interest in Native land acknowledgments in the US. 

Here in Washington, members of the DC City Council have begun using them during Council meetings. 

My experience in Melbourne, AU over the last 12 years has sensitized me to the public acknowledgment of Indigenous people, since in Melbourne (as I have heard is also being done in Canada), public parks and many public buildings have permanent land acknowledgments at their entrances.

My question here is whether the NMAI in DC has a land acknowledgment for the Anacostans who once walked the land under the museum? Perhaps this already exists and I wasn't thorough enough in my search of online information about the NMAI. 

If not, Indigenous Peoples' Day will be Oct 12, 2020, perhaps placing this acknowledgment could be part of the museum events for that day?

As you might recall, I have emailed you previously starting in 2016, when I learned there is a documented Anacostan Native site less than a mile from the NMAI, asking why visitors to the museum aren't being told about it. In 2018, I emailed again to ask about a possible real or online exhibit to tell the history of the Anacostans in Washington, DC. In other emails with your staff I have offered the contents of the Once As It Was Map of DC for use on the NMAI website at no charge.

As you know, there is great concern in the Native American and African American communities about the erasure of their history. A Native land acknowledgment in the NMAI would be a giant step in focusing attention on the Native Americans who once occupied the land that is now Washington, DC.

Sincerely yours,

Armand Lione, Ph.D.

Director, DC Native History Project

202.487.7092

Video to Direct Viewers to the Once As It Was DC Map

This 1.5 minute video gives a brief summary of what will be found on the interactive Once As It Was Map of DC.

Also available on youtube:

https://youtu.be/ui7G4-adD50

The Once As It Was map of Washington, DC

You'll see the Melbourne, AU version of this map in the following post.
Here's the Once As It Was map for DC that was inspired by the Melbourne map!
Click the link below to go to the website. Each of the icons on the map will open a box explaining the Anacostan history that relates to site.

http://onceasitwasdc.org/

The History of the Anacostan/Nacotchtank Indians in Washington, DC

Here's an article I put together that retells some of the major archaeological finds regarding the American Indians, the Anacostans, sometimes called the Nacotchtank, who lived in DC when the European settlers arrived in America. Click the link below to see the pdf:*

“Why Did the Anacostan Indians Choose to Live on Capitol Hill?”

                                Drawing from 1590s showing a Dog in a Virginia Native Village
The article discusses the roles dogs played in Native life.

*Note: the first pdf has been replaced with an updated version, including more information about the various names that have been used for the Anacostan/Nacotchtank natives of Washington, DC.

1889 Document Describing the Locations of Indian Villages in DC

"The Aborigines of the District of Columbia and the Lower Potomac" was published in 1889 in Vol 2 of American Anthropologist.  (The title should link to a pdf of the 51 page article.)

It contains the following descriptions of where Natives lived in the area that was to become Washington, DC.

p. 242,
"The principal part of Nacotchtanke seems to have been about due east of the Capitol, for the fields at this point give greater evidence of occupation than at most others, though indications of Indian occupation are to be found at nearly all points of the valley. "

p. 243
"The other village sites located within the old District lines and designated on the map (see Plate V) are (i) " Red Bank," on the west bank of the Anacostia and southeast of the Reform School; (2) the Carroll place in Washington, north of Garfield Park and between First and Second streets S. E...."

Here's part of the map that is included in the 1889 article.  
(The main image for this blog is a simplified version of this map, source:

Development of the US Capital. Wash. GPA 1930 (71^st Cong, 1^st session, House Doc no. 35). This document is available at the Lib of Cong. It doesn't seem to discuss the Native History of the Capital.)

 Full citation:

 Mason, Otis T., McGee W J, Wilson Thomas, Proudfit S. V., Holmes W. H., Reynolds Elmer R., and Mooney James. "The Aborigines of the District of Columbia and the Lower Potomac - A Symposium, under the Direction of the Vice President of Section D." American Anthropologist 2, no. 3 (1889): 225-68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/658373

Letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser

Dear Mayor Bowser,

Have you had an opportunity to attend a public meeting in Melbourne, Australia?  As you may know, in Melbourne, each public meeting begins with mention of the indigenous people who originally occupied the land around the city.

In Washington, DC, historic maps (see above) suggest that the dominant tribe that gave a derivative form of it's name to the Anacostia River, the Nacotchtank, had villages not far from the Capitol Building.

To the best of my knowledge, currently there is no public display that acknowledges the past existence of those villages.

Michelle Obama recently called attention to the forgotten history of black Americans in the building to this city. We would also do well to acknowledge the first peoples who lived here. The placement of a Native Village marker on Capitol Hill would be educational for local residents and visitors as well as provide evidence that we, as a city, acknowledge the Native people who enjoyed this land before us.

I have set up a blog to offer information this topic. My recent email to Kevin Gover, the Director of the National Museum of the American Indian, is also posted there. I also plan to send Congresswoman Norton information on this matter.

Please contact me if you or your staff would like more documentation - the Library of Congress has been a rich and readily available resource - and if you would like to discuss this matter in more detail.

Sincerely yours,
Armand

The Nacotchtanck tribe in DC - Wikipedia

The presence of the Nacotchtanck in DC is clearly discussed in their wikipedia entry.
This is no secret.
We just don't talk about it or acknowledge it publicly in DC.

(For an update on the mistaken name, Nacotchtanck, being a misspelling of the Algonquin word "anaquashtanik," see this newer blog entry: 

http://nativevillagemarker.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-name-of-dcs-native-tribe-how.html)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacotchtank

Kevin Gover, Director, National Museum of the American Indian 7/28/16

Kevin Gover, Director
National Museum of the American Indian,
Washington, DC
July 28, 2016

Re: Native Village Marker for Capitol Hill

Dear Kevin Gover,

My time in Melbourne, AU has sensitized me to the issue of acknowledging the historic people who came before us. In Melbourne, each public meeting begins with mention of the indigenous people who originally occupied the land around the city.

As you may know, in Washington, DC, historic maps (see above) suggest that the dominant tribe that gave a derivative form of it's name to the Anacostia River, the Nacotchtanke, had villages not far from the Capitol Building. Ironically, the village locations are quite close to the American Indian Museum.

To the best of my knowledge, currently there is no public display that acknowledges the past existence of those villages.

Such a monument would be educational to local residents and visitors as well as provide evidence that we, as a city, acknowledge the Native people who enjoyed this land before us.

I am in the process of contacting key Washingtonians, such as yourself, who might be interested in pursuing the placement of a Native Village marker on Capitol Hill. In the near future I will also be contacting the Mayor and Congresswoman Norton to discuss this project.

Please contact me if you would like more documentation - the Library of Congress has been a rich and readily available resource - and if you would like to discuss this matter in more detail.

Sincerely yours,
Armand
Armand Lione, Ph.D.
202.544.0711