Indigenous Voices in Appalachia

Beginning in May 2024, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) began hosting a series of events titled Indigenous Voices in Appalachia as companion pieces for our 2024 exhibit Creating Home: Indigenous Roots and Connections in the Appalachian Forest at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center in Elkins, WV. This program seeks to engage with citizens of Native Nations whose homelands and connections include the regions where AFNHA now operates. Tribal Nations, including the Haudenosaunee, the Shawnee, the Lenape, the Cherokee, the Monacans, and the Wyandot, among others, have called the AFNHA region home at different times throughout history. The Indigenous Voices in Appalachia programming offers opportunities to the public and our partner organizations to understand better and share stories that acknowledge and honor the Indigenous people with ties to our region, and to share their culture and experiences today.

Our Creating Home exhibit explored the history and contemporary stories of Native American cultures with connections to the AFNHA region and their influence on Appalachian culture. View the online version of the exhibit here. Our Indigenous Voices programming doesn’t end here. In 2025 the Creating Home exhibit will be on display at the Wills Creek Museum and Yew Mountain Center. The new traveling exhibit Seneca Trail: Native Travel through the Appalachian Forest will be available to visit venues across AFNHA. To expand on the programs developed under the Indigenous Voices banner, AFNHA invites new opportunities for collaboration, learning, and storytelling so that Indigenous Voices may be heard throughout the Appalachian Forest.