Original People's Forest Visit

Saturday, Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The Catawba Sustainability Center
5075 Catawba Creek Rd.
Catawba, Virginia

Tyson Sampson, a tribally enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (ᎠᏳᏫᏯ ᎨᏯᏔᎯᎤᏁᏉᎳᏗᏍᎩ), will lead an Original People’s forest visit at the Virginia Tech Catawba Sustainability Center on Sept. 10.

Tyson has been co-researching, collaborating, sharing, and educating about harvesting and processing regional flora for 21 years and organizes their community to document living food-ways, including protocols and responsibilities from their collective, Bigwitch Indian Wisdom.

Tyson will introduce you to Original People’s woodland edible and medicinal species, both wild-grown and propagated in a forest farming setting. They will share useful nomenclature of the species we encounter along with lived experience, correlating uses, and approaches to stewardship and cultivation.

Victoria Ferguson, program director of the historic Solitude-Fraction site on the campus of Virginia Tech and an enrolled member of the Monacan Indian Nation of Virginia, will also briefly share how Eastern Siouan groups, like the Monacans, used the natural resources in this region in their lifeways.

REGISTRATION IS NOW FULL
You may add your name to the waiting list in case spots open up.
WAITING LIST: https://tinyurl.com/forestvisit

Participants should dress appropriately for the weather and for walking in the forest on uneven terrain, both on and off the trail. The event will happen rain or shine. Light snacks and bottled water will be available. A Porta-Potty is available in the parking area, but otherwise there are no facilities on-site.

Please email Katie Trozzo at ketrozzo@vt.edu for more information.

If you are a person with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact the Katie at least 10 days prior to the event (ketrozzo@vt.edu or 540-231-4582).