Join us for an illuminating exploration of Indigenous history and storytelling in Can Pocahontas Speak?: Voicing Indigenous Life on the River. This event honors the rich heritage and enduring stewardship of the Indigenous peoples of Tsenacommacah (Seh-nuh-cuh-MAH-kah), meaning “land of many villages,” the coastal Algonquian name for Eastern Virginia. Drew Lopenzina, professor of Early American and Native American literature at Old Dominion University, will guide us through the deep-rooted connections between the Elizabeth River and the Indigenous communities who have long called its shores home. Discover how voices from the past continue to shape our understanding of place, identity, and resilience.

About Drew Lopenzina

Drew Lopenzina is a professor of Early American and Native American literatures at Old Dominion University whose work interrogates the intersections between settler-colonial and Indigenous cultures in colonial times. He is interested in formations of race and how race and culture are memorialized in public spaces. Drew is the author of Red Ink: Native Americans Picking up the Pen in the Colonial Period (SUNY Press 2012); The Routledge Introduction to Native American Literature (Routledge Press 2021) and Through an Indian’s Looking Glass: A Cultural Biography of William Apess, Pequot (University of Massachusetts Press 2017). He is also a member of the popular Hampton Roads folk duo Wine Dark Sea.

Elizabeth River Project Land Acknowledgement

The Elizabeth River Project acknowledges and thanks the Nansemond, Chesepioc, and other Indigenous nations of the Powhatan Confederacy for their unwavering stewardship. We honor them as the original knowledge-keepers of a just relationship with the river, a relationship we strive to uphold and restore.

Arrive early for an optional tour of the Ryan Resilience Lab at 5:00pm.

All are welcome – Suggest donation of $10 for Elizabeth River Project members and $15 per person for non-members to support a healthy Elizabeth River and our commitment to providing equitable access to our river programming

Part of The Ryan Resilience Series
Made Possible by Virginia Natural Gas