Berea College Archaeology and the Forestry Outreach Center to Host Day-Long Celebration of the History of the Berea College Forest

The Berea College Archaeology Program and the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center will host a day of activities Nov. 12 celebrating the history of the Berea College Forest. Events will take place in and around the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center.

The celebration, titled Considering Home: Changing Narratives about the Land Through Education and Conversations, will include family activities, presentations and community conversations to help participants learn more about native lands surrounding them.

The day’s events will include short presentations by archaeologists from around the state, including Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Stephen Warren, professor of history and program coordinator for Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Iowa.

The 9,000 acres of land now cared for by Berea College Forest is the ancestral homelands of Shawnee and Cherokee peoples, tribal nations who continue to care for and about these lands.

“Our goal is to replace the misinformation so many of us have been taught about indigenous presence on the land, directing them instead toward information,” said Broughton Anderson, professor of Archaeology at Berea College. “We are honored to have Chief Barnes and his colleagues travel from Oklahoma to join us.”

The day’s events, which begin at 9:45, are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule, visit  https://forestryoutreach.berea.edu/.