Submitted photo Dr. Joe Stahlman will be the keynote speaker for the ‘Ways of Knowing’ Indigenous Appalachia symposium on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Davis & Elkins College.

ELKINS — Understanding Native American culture will be featured in the upcoming “Ways of Knowing” Indigenous Appalachia symposium. Everyone interested in Native connections to our area are invited to attend the event, hosted by Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Davis & Elkins College.

The symposium is titled “Ways of Knowing: Indigenous Connections to Landscape and Place in Central Appalachia,” and will explore the many ways Indigenous people’s presence in our region has been understood over time. The five speakers, plus cultural presentations and a panel discussion, will share their experiences and thoughts on sources and varieties of knowledge. Keynote speaker Dr. Joe Stahlman, Tuscarora, who helped organize the event, discusses his approach: “In this talk I will discuss my journey in how I employ different forms of knowledge in my understanding of the past, present, and future of Indigenous Peoples.”

After the presentations, a reception will follow at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center in the Darden Mill in Elkins, as closing for the 2024 Indigenous exhibit “Creating Home.”

The symposium will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Senate Commons in the Myles Center for the Arts on the campus of Davis & Elkins College (535 Campus Dr. Elkins). Admission will cover the cost of lunch and refreshments. Scholarships for free attendance are available for students, AmeriCorps members, Indigenous people, or needs-based applicants.

Registration and scholarship applications are available at afnha.org/news-archives/indigenous-symposium. A livestream of the Symposium presentations may be viewed for free, but registration is required.This program is supported with funding from the National Park Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Schedule of events:

9:30 a.m. —  Larry Jent – Welcome and Introductions

9:45 a.m. – Joe Stahlman – Keynote Address: Ways of Knowing

10:30 a.m. — Leon Briggs – cultural presentation of the Haudenosaunee

10:45 a.m. — Gavin Hale, Monongahela National Forest Tribal Liaison – Nation to Nation Communications

11:45 a.m. — Joshua Garcia, Wyandotte Nation Communications Associate – Preserving the Future of Our Past

12:30 p.m. — Lunch

1:30  p.m. – Kenneth Branham, Chief Emeritus Monacan Nation – My Lifelong Learning Journey: Resurrecting our Culture

2:15  p.m. — Joe Stahlman & Larry Jent – cultural presentation

2:30  p.m. — Francis Day, President Future Generations University, Eastern Band of Cherokee – Wisdom of Local Communities

3:30  p.m. — Panel discussion facilitated by Bonnie Brown

4:30  p.m. — Leon Briggs – Event Close

4:45 to 6:30 p.m. — Reception and final showing of Coming Home exhibit at Appalachian Forest Discovery Center, with additional cultural presentation by Leon Briggs about 5:30.