History of Indigenous Foodways At Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech occupies Native land. Eastern Siouan peoples (Monacan, Tutelo and Saponi) that called themselves Yesah (or “the people”) have a long history as custodians of the land that Virginia Tech occupies.  These people were unified under the Monacan Alliance and first built permanent settlements in the Virginia Piedmont, Ridge and Valley and Mountains around 1000 A.D. Their ancestral territories over this period stretched east from the fall lines at Richmond, west into parts of West Virginia and South into central North Carolina. Many of their historical capital cities and tows can be found along the James River and Roanoke River Valley.  Traditionally, Yesah people cultivated a variety of plants for foods, medicines, ceremony, clothing and living needs both in forests and within 3 sisters gardens. Today these people are affiliated with the Monacan Indian Nation, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony Tribe, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe, Ohio Saponi and other Tutelo and Saponi peoples that continue to serve as caretakers for the land in this region.