Alabamians may learn about their family's history this weekend during the thirty eighth annual Moundville Native American Festival. The event focuses on educating Alabamians on native architecture and the tribes that once inhabited and engineered the mounds. The event also works to dispel stereotypes about the Native Americans who call the state their home. The festival director Jessica Dees says that many locals have an ancestral connection to the areas' native tribes which makes knowledge on the subject crucial so it can endure within the community.
"This is a place where local Alabamians and community members can find the sense of community, and we have them all come back and get this face-to-face representation by from local artisans and support them, and we really just have to come together as a community and celebrate Native culture that it is not gone, that they are still here,” she said.
Dees says the Moundville land was home to many groups of indigenous peoples. Alabama is also home to a federally recognized tribe, which she says creates incentive to keep Tuscaloosa's local history alive and protected. Tuscaloosa's 38th festival shared history about some Alabamians' predecessors, teaching lessons about the 30 mounds and the many tribes that have inhabited this land. Dees says that these engineered creations are a key to highlighting Tuscaloosa's past narrative and must be shared to keep history alive.
"We are stewarding it under the University of Alabama Museum because all of the people whose ancestors are here and were here and called this place such their home and this huge ceremonial center in Metropolis, their descendants are still alive today all over the United States,” she said.
Dees says many southeastern tribes have been removed, making it imperative to educate local natives on their homes past and create support through face-to-face representation. The Moundville Native American Festival, featuring authentic art, music, dance performances, storytellers, and crafters, runs through Saturday.
