Conservation Legacy Ancestral Lands interns Connor Tupponce, a citizen of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe of King William, Virginia (left), and Cheyenne "Chey" Sherwin, descendant of the Mikisew Cree First Nation of Alberta, Canada (right), perform curatorial work at Colonial National Historical Park/NPS

Editor's note: The following article comes from Rose Clements, communications manager at Conservation Legacy, a nationwide nonprofit that engages youth, young adults and veterans in conservation and service programs.

Werowocomoco rests atop a bluff on a peninsula in the Tidewater region of eastern Virginia, surrounded by marshlands, fields, and forests. It is a lush and verdant place, rich in plant and animal life—but most importantly, rich in Indigenous history and heritage.

Until recently, the site’s exact location was lost to the memory of the tribes who once inhabited it. Now recently rediscovered, Conservation Legacy and the National Park Service are collaborating with Native tribes to learn more about Werowocomoco, incorporate it into the National Park System, and accurately and respectfully interpret it for future visitors.

At the forefront of this collaboration are two Native interns who provide Indigenous insight and perspective to help shape the future of this sacred place. The Werowocomoco internship program exemplifies a crucial, contemporary collaboration between federal land management agencies, conservation service corps, and Native communities.

Werowocomoco represents over 10,000 years of Indigenous habitation and history and is a place of great importance to Native people.

“My family has been directly involved in Werowocomoco since its uncovering in the early 2000s,” explained Connor Tupponce, one of two Ancestral Lands Individual Placement interns at the site. “We are a very small tribe and community. All of us are involved in one way or another.”

Connor Tupponce preparing cultural artifacts in the lab at Colonial National Historical Park. “On a weekly basis we spend time with all the park divisions,” Tupponce confirmed. “We go from maintenance to law enforcement to cultural resources and archeology, and observe and learn the day to day operations of each.”/NPS, Melanie Pereira.

The Ancestral Lands internship program at Werowocomoco was formed through a partnership between the NPS and Conservation Legacy, a nationwide nonprofit that operates locally based conservation service programs throughout the United States. Conservation Legacy has historically operated its Ancestral Lands program in the Southwest, but the establishment of the Werowocomoco internship marks its expansion into the East.

The Ancestral Lands program blossomed in 2008 out of the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico and has expanded its programming to support many other Tribes, Pueblos, and Native communities throughout the nation. Guided by Native leadership and characterized by its breadth of conservation service opportunities for Indigenous youth and young adults that incorporate Native culture and tradition, the Ancestral Lands model provided a valuable framework for developing the internship program at Werowocomoco.

Werowocomoco was acquired by the NPS in June of 2016, to be managed as a part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. While not yet open to the public, Werowocomoco is currently being studied, stewarded, and protected by the NPS in collaboration with seven tribal partners: the Rappahannock, Upper Mattaponi, Mattaponi, Pamunkey, Nansemond, Chickahominy Eastern Division, and Chickahominy tribes.

Conservation Legacy Ancestral Lands intern Connor Tupponce competes as a Northern Traditional dancer and singer at a powwow in full regalia/Courtesy of Connor Tupponce.

“We want the experience of Werowocomoco to be Native-focused, Native-guided, and Native-directed for future visitors,” emphasized Cindy Chance, an anthropologist of the Chesapeake Trail who helped to establish and support the internship program at Werowocomoco.

Chance and her colleague, Christine Lucero, the trail’s senior interpretation specialist, envisioned an internship that would allow young Native people to learn about the operations of the National Park Service, experience the various divisions of park management, and ideally foster their entry into permanent positions at Werowocomoco to represent the voice and perspective of Native communities. They recognized the need for Indigenous representation at the site, but they needed support to actualize it.

The NPS’ extensive and longstanding relationship with Conservation Legacy and their familiarity with the Ancestral Lands program made the decision to partner on the implementation of the internship program straightforward.

“It was an exciting opportunity to familiarize tribal youth with the National Park Service and to provide opportunities for them to work on their sacred lands,” Lucero said. She and Chance reached out to Ron Hassel, Conservation Legacy’s partnerships director and an instrumental figure in supporting the development of the Ancestral Lands program.

Conservation Legacy Ancestral Lands intern Chey Sherwin explained how the position has provided perspective “not only into how the federal government works, but how it works in conjunction with its tribal partners.” The experience has illustrated the parameters of that partnership for Chey: both its limitations and its possibilities/Courtesy of Chey Sherwin.

“The Ancestral Lands program has been an amazing vehicle for providing opportunities for young Indigenous people to care for their ancestral lands and to launch future careers in natural resource agencies,” Hassel said. “Through this internship program at Werowocomoco, we are laying the groundwork to develop more Ancestral Lands programming in the Southeast. We recognized a gap in opportunities for Native youth in the region and we’re working together with the NPS to address it.”

The interns work alongside NPS rangers and staff in four different divisions within Werowocomoco—Interpretation & Education, Law Enforcement, Facility Management, and Resource Management—in order to become familiar with how the divisions work together and operate within the greater National Park System. Upon completion of their internships, participants are eligible for Direct Hiring Authority, which gives them the opportunity to be non-competitively hired by the NPS for up to two years. Direct Hiring Authority is an effort to establish pathways into employment within the agency. In this way, the NPS ensures that decisions about management and development of the land are directly informed by Indigenous people—Werowocomoco’s original inhabitants.

It is important to acknowledge the suppression of Indigenous heritage and the desecration of sacred sites following English colonization. Many spiritual places have been destroyed, or their exact location has been erased from Native memory. Underscoring this tragedy, Connor Tupponce notes that Werowocomoco is one of the few remaining sacred places in Virginia left to his people.

Tupponce, a member of the Upper Mattaponi and Chickahominy tribes of Virginia, maintains his families’ legacy through his internship position. Both his father and grandfather have served on the Werowocomoco Indian Advisory Board, which has consulted with researchers on the exploration of the site since its rediscovery, and still works closely with the NPS on its development today. Rather than seeing Werowocomoco simply as a place that was once inhabited by his ancestors, Tupponce recognizes it as evidence of the profound and ever-evolving culture that he and his people still practice today.

“When we visit Werowocomoco,” he explained, “we look to the water and see why it is still sacred to us: we’re still people of the water. We look to the woods and the wildlife and see how we still relate to them today. It’s a place that, when I visit, I feel like I’ve never left.” 

Chey Sherwin cleaning, treating, and preparing artifacts in the lab at Colonial National Historical Park. Within their positions, interns spent time working on material culture and curation. “I’m particularly interested in archeology,” explained Sherwin. “Any time I’m around any of the cultural resources in the park, I’m really enjoying myself.”/NPS,Melanie Pereira.

Chey Sherwin, a descendent of the Mikisew Cree First Nation tribe in Alberta Canada, is also an intern at Werowocomoco.

“Here on the East Coast, Indigenous history and identity is so marginalized,” she explained. “This site is incredibly important to recognizing and honoring the validity of the Native peoples here.”

Although Sherwin is not a member of the local tribes of the area, her input as an Indigenous person is still invaluable to the development of Werowocomoco.

“There is a lot of historic trauma in Native communities,” Sherwin acknowledged. “When we do open Werowocomoco to the public, I hope that if another Indigenous person visits the site, they’d be happy to see that I—as a First Nations person—am present and giving voice to the Native perspective. I hope they see that the representation is there.”

Tupponce grew up in Virginia. He still remembers the isolation he felt when he and his sister realized they were the only Native Americans—not just in the school they attended, but in the county’s entire school system. The lack of representation Tupponce experienced growing up only further emphasizes the significance of his role in the development of Werowocomoco.

“It is empowering more than anything,” he confirmed. “I’d like to reshape how the country –and the world– views Virginia tribes. It feels amazing—not just to be able to start these conversations, but to be included in them.”

Thanks to Indigenous interns like Connor and Chey, Werowocomoco will always have Indigenous representation, and Native voices and perspectives will continue to be a driving force in the future of the site. 

To learn more about Conservation Legacy, visit conservationlegacy.org. The next round of Werowocomoco internships begins in May. Click here to read the position description and apply now.