Patawomeck Indian village brings students closer to history

HARTWOOD, Va. (AP) – Joseph Sullivan’s heritage comes alive in his father’s campfire stories about the Indians who lived in Stafford County before it had that name. The 13-year-old can see the facial features he shares with a Patawomeck Indian whose photo hangs in the Stafford government complex.

It’s not often, Joseph said, that the same thing happens when he reads his history textbooks as a student in Stafford.

But Sullivan and his father, Quintin, changed that for students in one local school. The heritage of the two Patawomeck Indians of Virginia now lives in Hartwood Elementary School’s backyard.

Joseph, with the help of his father and many others, built a longhouse, fire pit and benches in a peaceful clearing tucked among the trees behind Hartwood Elementary. It’s the first of its kind on a Stafford school property.

“I hope it helps students get excited about our history, more than they would just sitting in class,” Joseph said.

Since May, Joseph and his father cleared the space, ordered materials and cut down fifty cedar trees. They did everything from installing grass mats to building a bed. The trees were tied in such a way to make the proper square shape of the longhouse, although theirs is only a quarter the size of a historic longhouse.

“It was really a big learning experience for me,” Joseph said. “I didn’t know it was that much work.”

He said he only knew how to lash posts when they started the project.

On Aug. 7, Joseph added a finishing touch to his more than 200 hours of work. He hung up a wooden sign he built that welcomes students to the Patawomeck Village, noting that he still had to add a cedar stain to the wood where the letters were carved.

The Sullivans plan to add a canoe, which they would create by cutting down a tree and burning the wood incrementally.

Although they did much of the work, aided by friends and tribe members, the project wasn’t entirely the duo’s idea.

A former Hartwood Elementary School teacher successfully applied for a $500 grant several years ago to create an authentic experience for Hartwood students when studying Native Americans.

“The thought now is that learning is not just by the drill and kill, and not by teacher standing up and dispensing knowledge. It is now based on kids having experiences . . . having those conversations,” Hartwood principal Scott Elchenko said.

Quintin Sullivan, who works as the supervisor of facilities planning design and construction for Stafford schools, was called to a meeting to discuss how to give Hartwood students an authentic experience when they study Native American history.

The conversation turned to creating a village, and Quintin suggested that he and his son, both Patawomeck Indians, build an authentic village. Joseph jumped at the chance to create the space as part of his Eagle project for the Boy Scouts.

“I think it is fantastic,” Patawomeck Chief John Lightner said. “(Students) can walk through the village. They are actually setting it up with us advising them so it is done correctly. It is something they can physically see. A lot of times there are misconceptions about Indians.”

The media, he said, usually shows tepees and trailing headdresses, neither of which were part of Patawomeck society. Now, he said, the students will be able to see a longhouse firsthand.

The Patawomeck tribe of Virginia Indians are one of Virginia’s 11 recognized Native American tribes. Eighty percent of the tribe’s approximately 1500 members still live within ten miles of their historic village of Patawomeck along the Potomac River, according to the tribe’s website.

Quintin Sullivan, who said he tells Indian lore at tribal events, pointed out one historically inaccurate thing about the village: it was constructed by men. Patawomeck women, he said, would have built the village–everything from cutting down the trees to tying the knots.

The tribe’s knowledge of village making, Quintin said, was passed down from women who survived a European massacre that set out to kill every man in the village.

“Those women are the reason there is any history left,” Quintin said. “But nobody learns that part of history in classrooms. I hope (students) learn that we existed.”

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Information from: The Free Lance-Star, http://www.fredericksburg.com/