Aila Boyd
The Salem Museum will host a free speaker series program on Indigenous food traditions and cultural resilience on Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m.
The program, titled “Preserving and Reviving Culture: Food Practices of the Eastern Siouan,” will explore the foodways of Indigenous peoples of the Roanoke Valley. Researcher and historical interpreter Victoria Persinger Ferguson will discuss the diverse food gathering practices of local Indigenous communities and the ways those traditions reflect deep ties to the land.
Drawing from oral histories, archaeological findings and traditional ecological knowledge, Ferguson will examine how these foodways demonstrate enduring resilience amid both environmental and human challenges.
Ferguson is an enrolled citizen of the Monacan Indian Nation and a graduate of Marshall University. She has 30 years of experience researching scientific methodologies and historical documentation related to the daily lives of Eastern Siouan populations through the early European colonization period.
She also has more than 25 years of experience in public history as a historical interpreter and has participated in numerous educational documentaries. Ferguson serves as program director for the Solitude/Fraction site at Virginia Tech and is the university’s presidential ambassador to Native Nations.
The talk will be offered in person at the Salem Museum and livestreamed on Zoom for those unable to attend. Access information is available through SalemMuseum.org.
The Salem Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Located in the historic 1845 Williams-Brown House, the museum offers free admission and parking, with donations accepted. The museum is at 801 E. Main St., with the entrance accessible at the Oakey Field Complex sign across Main Street from the Berglund Ford service entrance.
For more information, call 540-389-6760 or visit SalemMuseum.org.
