Future-Making: Land, Law, and Indigenous Resilience

Whereas most high school textbooks note the importance of land in Native American Nations, few people outside of Indian Country understand what those relationships really mean or how they influence decision-making processes and policy outcomes today.

This day-long symposium invites scholars, students, and the public to learn from and be in conversation with Indigenous experts in ecology, technology, and governance to better understand the practice and potential of place-based problem-solving in contemporary Indigenous communities. The hands-on workshop with experts from Virginia Indian Tribes allows participants to see how local makers are reinterpreting ancestral tools and techniques to address present-day needs. A panel discussion with leaders and experts from Virginia Tribes and U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borderlands highlights points of connection and divergence in communities that navigate complex, dynamic relationships with settler colonial nation-states.

The panel and attendees may consider these questions: What rights do Tribal citizens have to land, and which legal frameworks structure those rights? How do contemporary communities leverage traditional ecological knowledge to address climate change? How does the ongoing search for healthy relationships with a changing landscape influence Indigenous approaches to democracy, governance, and policymaking? What kinds of problem-solving solutions can be shared among and across Tribal borders and non-Native nation states? What does Tribal sovereignty mean in transnational contexts? What does it mean to be a Tribal citizen on Tribal lands and far from home? How does the presence or absence of reservation land shape Tribal citizens’ understanding of space and home?

Sign up separately for the workshop and lunch and/or the panel discussion and reception.

• 11:00 AM–1:00 PM Indigenous Tools and Techniques Workshop at Morven's Meeting Barn
• 1:00–2:30 PM Box lunches provided at Morven
• 3:00–4:30 PM Panel discussion at the Meeting Barn
• 5:00–6:00 PM Reception at the Main House

*The event is free; free parking is available at Morven Farm. Please sign up for

1. the 11:00 AM workshop and lunch, or
2. the 3:00 PM panel and reception, or
3. BOTH

Free shuttle buses will be provided for UVA students, departing from Alderman Road by the Chapel.

• 10:30 AM depart UVA for Morven Farm
• 1:30 PM depart Morven Farm for UVA
• 2:30 PM depart UVA for Morven Farm
• 6:00 PM depart Morven Farm for UVA

• Kody Grant, UVA Tribal liaison
• Savannah Baber, Virginia Humanities
• Joseph Lilly, Native American Student Union representative
• Willow Lovecky, Native American Student Union representative
• Raven Adams, community member, Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC) Algonquian language group
• Allison Bigelow, UVA faculty, ex-officio

Host or Publisher UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy