About
Conceived as a pilot, this project intends to expand the concept over time and continue this collaboration with more tribal communities in the Chesapeake region, creating resources that invite further appreciation of the homelands and contributions of the Indigenous people and communities who thrived here and continue to do so.
The first offering from Chesapeake Homelands includes a conversation presented in two parts, and two videos featuring Daniel Firehawk Abbott a descendant of the Nanticoke and Choptank people and Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, a descendant of the Pocomoke Indian Nation. The project is introduced with an essay by Shuptar-Rayvis.
What is the Chesapeake region?
For this project, when we refer to the “Chesapeake region,” we are including all of the geography that connects with the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We look to the NPS Chesapeake Gateways and other Bay-related organizations' definitions of the watershed as: including parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and the entire District of Columbia. But, also continue with the understanding that these specific delineations will need to be flexible since they may not directly correspond to traditional homelands or relationships to the land.
Chesapeake Homelands is a project of Beech Works, Inc. The pilot offerings were produced in collaboration with Adkins Arboretum.
This project has been financed in part by Eastern Shore Heritage, Inc. with State funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
