About

The purpose of the NNK250 Coalition and NNK250 is to engage multiple perspectives in recognizing and honoring the Northern Neck’s essential role in the founding of our nation and the ever-evolving American experiment. As a five-county regional commemorative effort, NNK250 is offering a two-day Academic Symposium with the 2024 theme, “the Power of Place,” focusing on “The Indigenous Northern Neck.” The symposium will take place November 1st and 2nd, at the Lodge at Cat Point Creek outside of Warsaw.

Pre-symposium activities, weather-dependent, begin at 1pm with hiking at the Cat Point Creek Unit of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge and paddling on Cat Point Creek. The Symposium will be opened at 4:30 pm with a keynote address by Chief Anne Richardson, Rappahannock Indian Tribe, and Marcie Kapsch, Refuge Manager, Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex, United States Fish and Wildlife Service. A reception will follow from 5:30 pm-7 pm.

On November 2, following breakfast, the conference resumes at 9am with morning and afternoon panel discussions on 1) Indigenous Landscapes, 2) Outreach and Activism, and 3) Indigenous Scholarship – of and by Indigenous People. For the Indigenous Landscape panel, to be moderated by Dr. Julie King, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, participants will include Dr. Martin Gallivan, College of William & Mary, Dr. Buck Woodard, College of William & Mary, Victoria Ferguson, Monacan Indian Nation and Virginia Tech Office for Inclusion and Diversity, and Dr. Edward duBois Ragan, Tribal Historian, Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia. The Outreach and Activism panel will be moderated by Dr. Kristin Lamoureux, Virginia Tech, and participants will include Hartman Deetz, Cultural Survival, Dr. Brad Hatch, Patawomeck Indian Tribe, and Kody Grant, Pueblo of Isleta and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The Indigenous Scholarship panel will be moderated by Dr. Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, College of William & Mary, with participation by Dr. Ashley Spivey, Pamunkey Indian Tribal Citizen, Kenah Consulting, Dr. Brad Hatch, Patawomeck Indian Tribe, and Victoria Ferguson, Monacan Indian Nation and Virginia Tech Office for Inclusion and Diversity. The closing keynote on Saturday afternoon will be given by Dr. Brittany Hunt, Virginia Tech.

An agenda with links to registration and payment is available at nnk250.us/events. The cost to attend is $25, and includes the opening reception, breakfast, and lunch. Funding of the Symposium is provided by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. Discounted lodging is available at Stratford Hall for symposium attendees. Call 804-493-1967 to book. The NNK250 Coalition is comprised of dozens of representatives from tourism, education, economic development, museums, historic sites, historical groups, cultural groups, and government agencies from throughout the Northern Neck for the purpose of commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. The Coalition is led by the NNK250 Steering Committee.