Rebuilding local history

BASTIAN, Va. — In the spring of 1970, as highway construction crews were preparing the right-of-way for I-77, the crews came upon an important archaeological find — a Native American village site that predated the arrival of European explorers on the North American continent.

A Wythe County, Va., man, Wayne Richardson, contacted Howard MacCord, the Virginia state archeologist, to examine the site. MacCord started work on the Brown Johnston archaeological site in May of 1970, and the site yielded many artifacts from the Eastern Late Woodland Period Indians who inhabited the village.

Bland County residents who had always cherished their county’s history, remembered the village and in 1992, George Schaeffer and members of the Bland County Historical Society worked to secure funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation to create a site that would tell the story of the native people who lived in Bland County in the years before European settlers arrived. Fueled primarily by Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) funds, the museum/living history project took flight.

But there is much more to the Wolf Creek Indian Village than a museum and a replica village. Wolf Creek has evolved into a state of mind rather than merely a structure to house artifacts and a replica village to demonstrate the ways of pre-Columbian North Americans. Under the leadership of co-directors, Denise Smith and Penny Plummer, and with the guidance of the Bland County administration, the village/museum complex has reached out to the greater Native American community for spiritual support and has literally gone back to the drawing board to replicate the village based on the actual archaeological drawings from the 1970 examination of the village site.

“As we learn more about the site, we have revised our presentation,” Smith said as she proudly showed the 1970-vintage site map developed by MacCord, who was the Virginia State Archaeologist at the time of the examination. “These were Eastern Late Woodland Period Indians living here, from about 1490 to 1530,” Smith said. New information has prompted the historical interpreters to set the time that native people lived at the site about 300 years more recent than previously believed. “This village was contemporary to the Native American village at Crab Orchard in Tazewell County, Va.”

When MacCord and his team investigated the site in 1970, the archaeologists made detailed notations about all the post holes in the village, but the initial replicated structures were modified in order to conform with construction capabilities. “We looked at the drawings and realized we had too many post holes for a wigwam,” Smith said. When volunteer village builders Sam Wright and Dave Plummer started looking at the structures, they laid out a plan that, “looks like the round houses of the Cherokees,” Smith said. “We decided that wherever they put a post, we would put a post. It’s a three-year plan, and we’re behind schedule, but we are trying to get it right.”

Wolf Creek is dedicated to getting the story right, and in recent years, the regional Native American community has stepped forward to assist in that respect. This year’s All Nations Green Corn Festival, July 16-18, at the Bland County Fairgrounds in Bland, Va., will mark the third annual pow wow in Bland County. “We learn more about the past every time we host the festival,” Smith said. “There are some great speakers coming this year.”

Ric Youngblood will serve as master of ceremonies again this year and Host Drum will be Bird Chopper Bird. Second Drum is Dry Creek Medicine with Mike Crawford head male dancer and Jeanie Crawford, head female dancer. Gates will open at 12 noon on Friday, July 16, with the Grand Entry at 2 p.m. Gates will open on Saturday, July 17, at 11 a.m., and close at 8:30 p.m. Gates will open at 11 a.m., on Sunday July 18 with the Grand Entry at 1 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 4-16, and veterans and seniors.

Penny Plummer has been associated with the Indian Village for 14 years, and she said her appreciation for the people who lived there more than 500 years ago continues to grow. Walking into the village, she talked about the plants along the way, and pointed out the ribbons that Chief of the Turtle Clan, Jack “3 Bears” Eisel and Chief of the Turkey Clan, Darrell “Two Wolves” Schwartz and members of the Delaware (Munsee) Nation left at the entrance to the village site during the Blessing Ceremony on April 9.

Plummer said she enjoys learning new things about the “First People” as the village and museum rebuild structures based on a duplication of the original site map. “After 14 years of telling people this was a garden area, we got the site map and found out it wasn’t,” Plummer said and smiled.

Still, Plummer and Smith are both excited about the transformation. “When we’re done, we’ll have the first ancient building built to modern code,” she said. “It feels good. We are taking our time, but it feels good.”

Businesses and volunteers from Bland County and the surrounding area are getting behind the effort to help. “Volunteers just show up, willing to help do what they can,” Smith said. “Blooming Idiots Greenhouses of Ceres, Va., brought us flowers for our flower boxes. So many people are helping in so many ways.”

Plummer said the “Turtle man from Ohio” sends turtle shells to the village. She said that Native Americans used turtles as calendars. She pointed out that turtle shells have 13 large sections that represent the 13 moons of each year, and 28 smaller sections that represent the days between each moon. “The Indians have a fifth season,” Plummer said. “Indian Summer is when the fluff starts to fly. That is when all the seeds start to fly.” Plummer said local hunters provide bones for tool making and hides for tanning.

The village and museum is open from 10 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. To volunteer or to learn more about activities call (276) 688-3438, or visit them on line at (www.indianvillage.org).

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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