Salem Museum to Host Talk on Indigenous Foodways and Resilience

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The Salem Museum will host a free speaker series program on Thursday, April 9th at 7 p.m. titled 'Preserving and Reviving Culture: Food Practices of the Eastern Siouan.' The program will feature researcher and historical interpreter Victoria Persinger Ferguson, who will discuss the foodways of Indigenous peoples in the Roanoke Valley and how those traditions reflect deep ties to the land and demonstrate enduring resilience.

Why it matters

The talk aims to shed light on the rich cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge of local Indigenous communities, which have persisted despite environmental and human challenges over centuries of colonization.

The details

Ferguson, an enrolled citizen of the Monacan Indian Nation, will draw from oral histories, archaeological findings, and traditional ecological knowledge to examine the diverse food gathering practices of Eastern Siouan populations during the early European colonization period. She has 30 years of experience researching these topics and over 25 years of experience as a public historian and interpreter.

• The speaker series program will take place on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 7 p.m.