Soon after Captain John Smith arrived at Jamestown in 1607, or so the story goes, he was captured by Opechancanough, the brother of the powerful Native chief Powhatan. English explorers wrote that Powhatan controlled a domain spanning much of what is now Virginia, from the state’s Piedmont region to the coast.
The Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia has received a grant award through the Tribal Heritage grant program, funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. The grant will support the rehabilitation and repurposing of the Chief Otho S. and Susie P. Nelson House to provide space for public educational programs.
“People will be able to come to this special place, and spend time doing things recreational, cultural and spiritual. I consider it a national treasure,” Chief Anne Richardson said, noting that the tribe would like to see an “indigenous culture conservation learning center” eventually developed on the property.
From the road, the abandoned chief’s house is a shadow, almost invisible under a cloak of vines and trees on the edge of a corn field. If you managed to find it, you wouldn’t know what it meant — the ragged wood siding, the gaping windows, the shattered plaster.
The George Washington Birthplace National Monument is treasured as a threshold to America’s history and the site of America Indian Heritage Day. Representatives of the Rappahannock Tribe gave a presentation of their history and demonstrations of drumming and dance.