Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The Salem Museum will host the first Totero Town Symposium on Saturday, Feb. 28, a free daylong event exploring the Native American history of the Roanoke Valley.
Organized by the Headwaters Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia in partnership with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the symposium will run from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum.
In 1671, European explorers Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam documented an encounter with Totero Town, a village believed to have been located in present-day Salem. The settlement was home to Eastern Siouan-speaking members of the Tutelo tribe. Centuries later, the village site was rediscovered during archaeological excavations at what is now the James I. Moyer Sports Complex.
More than 30 years after those excavations, the symposium will reunite archaeologists involved in the original dig with Native American scholars and researchers to share new insights, discoveries and artifacts.
The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. with complimentary coffee provided by Bean Bliss Coffee Bar. Visitors are invited to explore the museum’s two Totero Town exhibits before lectures begin.
The lecture schedule includes:
• 11 a.m.: Dr. Michael Barber of the Longwood Institute of Archaeology, “Six Events that Changed the Trajectory of Native American Cultures in Virginia: A Punctuated Equilibria Approach.”
• Noon: Dr. Elizabeth Moore of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, “Totero Town, Ethnozoology and the Deerskin Trade: Adaptation and Agency in a Time of Change.”
• 2 p.m.: Dean Ferguson, president of the Headwaters Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia, “Reconstructing the Monacan Village at Natural Bridge: The Archaeological Record’s Interface with Public Outreach.”
• 3 p.m.: Drs. Hayden Bassett and Madeleine Gunter-Bassett of the Virginia Museum of Natural History, “Riverine Settlement and Aquatic Resource Use in Late Woodland Virginia.”
From noon to 3 p.m., Dale’s Diner Express food truck will offer lunch and refreshments on site.
The Salem Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
-The Salem Times-Register
