Indigenous History and Culture
Virginia Tech acknowledges that we live and work on the Tutelo / Monacan People’s homeland, and we recognize their continued relationships with their lands and waterways. We further acknowledge that the Morrill Land-Grant College Act (1862) enabled the commonwealth of Virginia to finance and found Virginia Tech through the forced removal of Native Nations from their lands in western territories. We understand that honoring Native Peoples without explicit material commitments falls short of our institutional responsibilities. Through sustained, transparent, and meaningful engagement with the Tutelo / Monacan Peoples, and other Native Nations, we commit to changing the trajectory of Virginia Tech's history by increasing Indigenous student, staff, and faculty recruitment and retention, diversifying course offerings, and meeting the growing needs of all Virginia tribes and supporting their sovereignty.
The Department of History at Virginia Tech is deeply committed to embodying the university's Land Acknowledgement. For this reason, we continue to seek responsible ways to explore Virginia's Indigenous past, while never losing sight of Virginia's Indigenous present. We are also committed to offering rigorous and engaging courses on the history and conditions of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and Abya Yala, the area that is now called the Americas.
Abya Yala is a Kuna term meaning "fertile land." This term is used by Indigenous activists, and allies, to think about the area that is now called "Latin America" from an Indigenous perspective that does not privilege settler nations or their borders.
Together, Turtle Island and Abya Yala comprise the land mass called "the Americas" and the "Caribbean islands."
Abya Yala courses:
This course will guide you through the complex history of what is now called Latin America focusing on the experiences, contributions, and struggles of Indigenous and Black communities. We largely focus on Mesoamerica, the Andes, the Amazon, and the Caribbean. This class gives students context on the Indigenous situation beginning in the fifteenth century and we explore the arrival of European invaders in the 1490s. Discussions also include how Europeans attempted to replicate their societies on Indigenous land and the ways in which Indigenous communities and practices have continued into the present.
Who and what is a witch? Explore how theories and discussions from the ancient Greek and Roman world influenced late medieval views on witchcraft, witches, and orthodoxy. These views were transplanted by settler colonial ventures into what is now called the Americas to make sense of, and persecute, Indigenous and African devotional and healing practices.
(Currently listed as "Conquest and Culture in Latin American Empires" as of Fall 2024) This course zooms in on Mesoamerica (a large part of what is now Mexico and Central America) and the Andes (a region traversing Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile) to explore the political and cultural history of two regions of Turtle Island and Abya Yala with the most extensive and populated Indigenous territories.
Get a complex and rich understanding of Nahua people (often incorrectly called the Aztecs) in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Nahua people speak Nahuan languages typically broken down into Nahuatl (Mexico) and Nawat (Central America) and though they have diverse and nuanced practices they also share gastronomic, linguistic, and other cultural similarities. Join us in exploring great Nahua figures including Moctezuma II, Ixtlilxochitl, Emiliano Zapata, José Feliciano Ama, Anastasio Aquino, and many more. This class explores important urban centers such as Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, Tlaxcallan, Cholulan, Kuskatan, Izalco, Esquintlan. Spanish and republic settler ventures having taken tolls on Nahua communities and caused strains, but in this class, you will learn about Nahua resilience and survivance in the face of settler attacks.
Turtle Island originates among several Indigenous peoples in the Northeastern Woodlands of what is now called the United States. This term is used by many (though not all) Indigenous activists and communities to denote the area that is colonially known as Canada, the United States, and it often includes Mexico as well.
Turtle Island courses:
- Virginia Indigenous History (coming Spring 2026)
History Department Faculty Experts in Indigenous Studies
Sam Cook | Associate Professor
Area of Study: Turtle Island
Specialties: Tribal Law, Virginia Indigenous Nations
sacook2@vt.edu
Nick Copeland | Associate Professor
Area of Study: Abya Yala
Specialties: Modern Latin America, Guatemala, Water
ncopel@vt.edu
Edward Polanco | Assistant Professor
Area of Study: Abya Yala
Specialties: Mesoamerica, Nahua Peoples, Healing, Religion, Foodways
polanco@vt.edu
Jessica Taylor | Associate Professor
Area of Study: Turtle Island
Specialties: US Southeast, Chesapeake, Oral History, Public History, Early America
jessicataylor@vt.edu