Piscataway Park Ethnographic Overview and Assessment
King JA, Hanson T, Strickland SM. 2021. Piscataway Park Ethnographic Overview and Assessment. Ethnographic Overview and Assessment. National Park Service. Washington, D.C.
An Ethnographic Overview and Assessment (EOA) was undertaken for Piscataway National Park, an approximately 5,000-acre park located ten miles south of Washington, D.C. Piscataway Park, which is managed by the National Park Service, was created in 1961 through an act of Congress in order to protect the viewshed from Mount Vernon. The purpose of the EOA was to create a historical and ethnographic context for the park, to identify community-associated groups and other stakeholders. And to review, collect, and synthesize ethnographic information about those groups. The project began in January 2018 and concluded in May 2019. The work was undertaken by St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) in consultation and partnership with the National Park Service’s National Capital Region’s Cultural Anthropology Program. The project had four primary objectives: 1. documentation of the park’s ethnohistorical context; 2. documentation of contemporary Native American associations; 3. documentation of traditional associations and users related to the park; and 4. documentation of other park users. Ten groups, communities, or organizations with an association or an interest in the park were identified. These included: 1. the Piscataway Indian community; 2. the Moyaone Reserve community; 3. the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association; 4. the Alice Ferguson Foundation; 5. the Accokeek Foundation; 6. National Park Service employees; 7. the African American community; 8. Marshall, Bryan, et cetera family descendants; 9. the fisher community; 10. Marshall Hall Amusement Park interest groups. The report includes a detailed historical background of Piscataway Park beginning some 10,000 years ago and extending into the twentieth century. A synthesis of the ethnographic information for each of the ten identified communities/groups as provided in a separate chapter. Finally, the report concludes with a list of recommendations for the National Park Service to consider in its management of Piscataway National Park.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- King, Julia; Hanson, Travis; Strickland, Scott
- Date of Issue
- 2021
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NACE , NCR , PISC
- Keywords
- Accokeek Foundation, African Americans, Alice Ferguson Foundation, Amusement Park, anthropology, Bryan Point, ethnography, Marshall Hall, Mockley Point, Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Moyaone Reserve, oral history, Piscataway, Piscataway Indian community, Potomac River