Narratives of the Land

Bacon’s Rebellion is a classic US History textbook term. We talked a lot about Nathaniel Bacon, the House of Burgesses, and Jamestown in my APUSH class. We talked about the Rebellion’s role in shifting the colonies’ source of labor from indentured servitude to slave labor and discussed the classist elements of the event — how…

Hi All. I’m getting this post up a little later than I intended, but it’s here. As I jump into the writing process, I wanted to dedicate a post to some of my new research updates. When I did my initial research at the beginning of the year, I focused mostly on the Occaneechi’s history…

Hello All! I know it has been a while since I last posted. I haven’t posted recently because I have been in the midst of interviewing, and I am hesitant to share the contents of my interviews before I release the final piece. That being said, I have been interviewing away! This week I will…

This week, I officially began the interview phase of this project! I had my first interview this week with a current member of the Occaneechi. I also scheduled an interview to speak with a descendant of both the Saponi and the Couch family. I’m planning to speak with each interviewee several times. I can’t give…

Hello All! This week, I’ve made some progress on interviews. I’ve reached out or re-reached out to all of my current potential interviewees. Also, very exciting news — I have my first official interview scheduled for next week! Beyond sending and replying to emails, I’ve also been inviting folks to my upcoming (virtual) presentation which…

This blog post is a little belated as its events got caught up in the exams and college application rush, but here it is! In early December, My dad and I were able to go with Judd Edeburn, former resource manager of the Duke Forest, and Nicki Cagle, from the Nicholas School of the Environment,…

Last week, I had two very important phone calls. First I spoke with Mr. Judd Edeburn — former resource manager of the Duke Forest. Mr. Edeburn told me about the Couch cemeteries present on the Duke Forest land — which I will be able to visit with him and hopefully Ms. Nicolette Cagle. He also…

Hello! I haven’t posted in a while, but that is not for lack of progress. I’ve got lots to catch everyone up on. To begin, two weeks ago I was on a call with several local history experts. Organized by Mr. Tom Magnuson of the “Trading Path Association” (knowledgable particularly about old maps and roads),…

Lots of new developments this week! To begin with I spoke with Ms. Courtney Smith from the Orange County Historical Museum (OCHM) who has helped curate the OCHM’s new exhibit, “Journeys of the Occaneechi.” She not only put me in touch a few tribal members — Mr. Lawrence Dunmore, a tribal storyteller and historian, and…

It’s been a little while since I’ve gotten something up on the blog, but this Quarter 1 Reflection should bring everyone up to speed. I started this quarter researching the history of the Eno River and the Couch land which is now Duke Forest. I consulted, among other resources, the old “Eno Journals” that can…