This Land Before Oatlands

Join us for a presentation of new research into the Indigenous history of the landscape that would eventually become Oatlands. A walking tour immediately follows that brings this research to life.

Moving across thousands of years of history, the project explores how Native peoples shaped and stewarded the Piedmont landscape through agriculture, foodways, trade, migration and extensive regional networks.

Developed through archival research, landscape interpretation, and collaboration with Oatlands staff and scholars, the project invites audiences to understand Oatlands not as a landscape whose history begins with European settlement or the plantation, but as a place shaped by thousands of years of Indigenous presence, knowledge, decision-making, and relationships to land and community.

This event held in the Carriage House is free with no registration required. Be sure to dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes for the walking tour!