News Release

Chesapeake Trail Announces Successful Completion of 2020 Ancestral Lands Corps Program at Werowocomoco

Date: March 18, 2021

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Chesapeake Trail) is pleased to announce that its first cohort of interns has completed the inaugural Ancestral Lands Corps Individual Placement Program at Werowocomoco, the historic capital of the Powhatan chiefdom and a site of international and historical significance located on Virginia's York River. In 2016, the National Park Service acquired Werowocomoco, which is managed by the Chesapeake Trail in collaboration with the staff at Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia, and seven tribal partners.

In 2020, the trail piloted the internship, a 26-week opportunity for tribal youth, ages 18-35, to be involved in park operations, preservation, and the visitor experience at Werowocomoco. Participants earn educational credit as well as direct hiring authority for two years. The new Werowocomoco program was modeled after other, more-established individual placement programs: the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC) programs in the Southwest (New Mexico and Arizona) and the Appalachian Conservation Corps (ACC) whose service projects span throughout Appalachia and across West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. Both ALCC and ACC are programs of Conservation Legacy, a nationwide network of conservation service organizations. ACC implements Conservation Legacy’s initiatives on the East Coast, including the new Werowocomoco internship.

The 2020 Werowocomoco Ancestral Lands interns were Cheyenne Sherwin and Connor Tupponce, who completed their internship from August 2020 to February 2021. Cheyenne Sherwin, Mikisew Cree First Nation of Alberta, Canada, is a student at the University of Montana, where she majors in Native American studies and anthropology, with a focus on archeology. She is from western North Carolina. Connor Tupponce is a citizen of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe in King William, Va. He works as a policy intern with the tribe and also competes as a Northern Traditional dancer and singer at powwows. He is an avid outdoorsman with a heart for conservation.

Ms. Sherwin and Mr. Tupponce were based at Colonial National Historical Park and worked alongside NPS rangers and staff in four different divisions within the park--Interpretation & Education, Law Enforcement, Facility Management, and Resource Management--in order to become familiar with how the divisions work together and operate within the greater national park system. Each division provided opportunities to apply skills and knowledge to those same operations at Werowocomoco. When local health guidance and park rules permitted, Ms. Sherwin and Mr. Tupponce were in the field. At other times, intern activities were adjusted to include telework options.

“I am incredibly proud of the trail staff for safely and successfully launching an Ancestral Lands program at Werowocomoco, and during COVID no less,” said Steve Williams, acting superintendent of the Chesapeake Trail. “All of us here at the trail are also proud of what Cheyenne and Connor have accomplished despite the difficulties of the last year, and we wish them the best in their future careers.” 

The internship culminated with both Ms. Sherwin and Mr. Tupponce using what they learned to develop presentations on what they believe park operations should look like at Werowocomoco. In early February, they shared their presentations with tribal leaders and NPS staff, including Jennifer Talken-Spaulding, bureau cultural anthropologist at NPS’ Office of Tribal Relations & American Cultures; Dorothy FireCloud, Native American affairs liaison and assistant to the director of NPS’ Office of Native American Affairs; and George McDonald, youth programs coordinator at NPS headquarters in Washington, D.C., whose office supported the program.

To learn more about the Ancestral Lands program at Werowocomoco, please see this recent story in National Parks Traveler.