Chicone Village Day
The Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance is sponsoring the 8th Annual Chicone Village Day at Handsell on Indiantown Road in Vienna, Dorchester County, MD, on Saturday, April 25.
This event is not a Pow-Wow, but an educational experience held to teach of the ways of the ancient Eastern Woodland people who inhabited the Chesapeake Bay region and Mid-Atlantic coast. Experimental archaeological techniques are explored and ancient skills demonstrated at these events.
Featured will be Daniel Firehawk Abbott, Native American interpreter. Living History demonstrations will include cooking, weaving, chipping of implements and gardening with historic plants. Handsell House will be open, including the basement Kitchen where the African American story is represented.
The event also will include a special workshop for participants to make their own Native inspired bracelet. Only 10 spots are available with all supplies and instruction provided by the Center for Research in Basketry, a non-profit funded by the Maryland State Arts Council. The bracelet workshop registration fee of $55 serves as a fundraiser to support the Chicone Village Project. Space is first-come-first-serve. Register here for the Native Bracelet Workshop. Or email restorehandsell@gmail.com with questions.
Admission to Chicone Village Day is $2 to help defray costs and for maintenance of the Village structures. Additional donations are welcome. Handsell is located at 4837 Indiantown Road near Vienna, Maryland.
The Chicone Village Project, begun in 2013 with the groundbreaking of an authentic native dwelling lodge or longhouse, has since expanded to include a Native Garden and Work Shelter and a Nature Walk. The Chicone Longhouse is an authentically built replica of a single family dwelling unit, the first to be built on the Eastern Shore in 200 years.
DIRECTIONS: From Route 50, take the exit for Vienna (Route 331 North) near the Nanticoke River Bridge. Turn left at end of ramp. Take first right onto Indiantown Road. (“Scenic Maryland” sign is here). Road makes sharp turn to left, follow over the Chicone Creek bridge, up the hill. Handsell will appear on your right in the field about 1/4 mile down. More information at www.restorehandsell.org.