About Guide to Indigenous Maryland

Guide to Indigenous Maryland is a multi-faceted community engagement initiative of the Maryland State Library Agency and Maryland’s public libraries. Through the development and curation of educational resources, the project aims to teach Marylanders about the history of local Native and Indigenous peoples and how their heritage influences contemporary life in Maryland. Content for the app and website are based on crowdsourced contributions and recommendations from individual Native and Indigenous Marylanders, as well as tribal nations heritage organizations, in collaboration with Maryland’s public libraries and the project curator Dr. Elizabeth Rule, Assistant Professor, American University. Dr. Rule is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and is renowned nationally as a leading proponent of engaging the general public with the Native and Indigenous heritage of local communities. She previously developed and launched a Guide to Indigenous DC and Guide to Indigenous Baltimore.

Guide to Indigenous Maryland is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Maryland State Library Agency via the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System.

Dr. Elizabeth Rule
Project Curator

Chickasaw Nation

Dr. Elizabeth Rule is Assistant Professor of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies at American University. She is an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. Rule’s research on Indigenous issues has been featured in the Washington Post, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, The Atlantic, Newsy, and NPR. She is also a published author, releasing scholarly articles in the American Quarterly and in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Rule has two forthcoming monographs. The first, Reproducing Resistance: Gendered Violence and Indigenous Nationhood, analyzes the intersection of violence against Native women, reproductive justice, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women; this work received the Julien Mezey Award from the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities in 2020. Rule’s second monograph, Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation’s Capital (Georgetown University Press), analyzes historical and contemporary sites of Indigenous importance in Washington and compliments her Guide to Indigenous DC mobile application.

Beyond the classroom, Rule continues her work as an educator by presenting her research and delivering invited talks on Native American issues. More than 100 public speaking engagements and interviews have taken her across three continents and to seven countries. Venues for such presentations include the United Nations Association-USA, the Institut des Amériques in Paris, France, the National Congress of American Indians, the Women’s and Gender Studies Intellectual Forum at MIT, the National Gallery of Art, and more.

Previously, Dr. Rule has held posts as Director of the Center for Indigenous Politics and Policy and Faculty in Residence at George Washington University, Director of the Native American Political Leadership Program and the INSPIRE PreCollege Program, MIT Indigenous Communities Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellow at American University, and Ford Foundation Fellow. Rule received her Ph.D. and M.A. in American Studies from Brown University, and her B.A. from Yale University.

Troi Madison Newman
Project Artist

Piscataway Nation

Troi Madison Newman, a black-indigenous enrolled citizen of Piscataway Conoy Tribe Maryland, is a graphic designer and paralegal graduate student from George Washington University. Troi is a certified American Board Association paralegal. From 2019 to 2021, while obtaining her master’s degree at George Washington University, Troi researched Missing Murdered Indigenous Women under Professor Lisa Leibow and Professor Elizabeth Rule. Troi’s research led to a publishing thesis: “Are Tribal Courts equipped with the knowledge and resources to handle MMIW cases of non-Native perpetrators?”. This thesis allowed Troi to interview Honorary Pat Sekaquaptewa, Justice of Hopi Appellate Court, The Court of Indian Affairs Western Region Court; Magistrate Marsha Harlan, Prosecutor Stephanie Whisnan, and Sophia Torres.

Troi is a Type 1 Diabetic and a huge advocate for the visibility of Type 1 diabetes amongst minority groups. When Troi is not freelancing graphic designs, she is a paralegal for All Native Group (ANG), a government contractor for Ho-Chunk Inc. of Ho-Chunk Nation. Troi received her M.P.S. in Paralegal Studies from George Washington University and her B.S. in Psychology from Frostburg State University. This Fall 2022, Troi will be a part of the incoming class at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Check out Troi’s design work by clicking the link https://linktr.ee/troimadison .

Guide to Indigenous Maryland Project Task Force

The Guide to Indigneous Maryland Project Task Force formed in late 2021 to support the statewide effort to gather community content submissions for potential inclusion in the Guide to Indigenous Maryland app and website. The task force includes representatives of Maryland’s 24 public library systems, Maryland State Library Agency, Indigenous nations local to Maryland, Maryland State Archives, and representatives of other cultural heritage organizations engaged in the work of preserving and promoting Native American and Indigenous heritage.

2021-2022 Task Force Leadership

Dr. Elizabeth Rule, Project Curator

Assistant Professor of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies, American University

Nicholas Alexander Brown, MMus, MSLIS, Project Director

Chief Operating Officer for Communication and Outreach, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System

Nini Beegan, MSLA Project Liaison

Organizational Learning & Innovation Coordinator, Maryland State Library

Maribel Rodriguez, Project Admnistrative Assistant

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System

2021-2022 Task Force Members

Lynne Bulhack, Archaeological Society of Maryland
Dustin Carpenter, Dorchester County Public Library
Alison Cline, Allegany County Library
Megan Craynon, Maryland State Archives
Johany Doty, Anne Arundel County Public Library
Zoe Downs, St. Mary’s Library
Gregory Escobar, Calvert Library
Kirsten Grünberg, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System
Kyla Hanington, Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights
Norris Howard Jr., Pocomoke Nation
Elizabeth Howe, Washington County Library
Sandy Hunting, Calvert Library
Ali Jessing, Howard County Library System
Brenda Johnson-Perkins, Baltimore County Public Library
Arthur LaRue, Washington County Free Library
Mary Mannix, Frederick County Public Library
Rico Newman, Elders Council, Choptico Band of Piscataway Indians
Lisa Picker, Carroll County Public Library
Sara Sears, Dorchester County Public Library
Sabine Simonson, Talbot County Free Library
Scott Strickland, Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab
Amelia Viars, Cecil County Public Library
Dauveen Walker, Charles County Public Library
Maggie Yankovich, Enoch Pratt Free Library

About Maryland State Library Agency

Maryland State Library Agency (MSLA) is an independent agency. We provide strategic leadership, resources, and programmatic support to Maryland libraries to transform lives. As the state library agency for Maryland, the Maryland State Library Agency administers State and Federal funds to support Maryland libraries in their mission to offer outstanding resources, programs, and excellent customer service. Responsibilities include oversight of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled; Maryland’s Public Libraries; the State Library Network; the Library Capital Grants Programs; and the Deaf Culture Digital Library.

About Prince George’s County Memorial Library System

The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) helps customers discover and define opportunities that shape their lives. The Library serves the 967,000+ residents of Prince George’s County, Maryland through 19 branch libraries, a 24/7 online library, and pop-up services throughout the community. PGCMLS is a responsive and trusted community-driven organization. Programs, services, and outreach activities serve booklovers, immigrants and refugees, job seekers, children, young professionals, seniors, and families alike. PGCMLS is the recipient of the 2021 Urban Libraries Council Top Innovator Award for Workforce and Economic Development. Learn more at pgcmls.info.

PGCMLS serves a community that inhabits the traditional lands of the Mattapanient, Patuxent, Piscataway, Moyaone, and Paumnkey nations, past and present. The Library honors with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations.

Credits

Guide to Indigenous Maryland is supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by Maryland State Library and the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System.

Rights & Access

Guide to Indigenous Maryland content curated by Tribal Thought LLC (includes the primary list of sites and their descriptions) and the app logo may not be reproduced without express written permission from Tribal Thought LLC. The Guide to Indigenous Maryland website includes authorized content from Tribal Thought LLC and other resources that are property of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (with exceptions of licensed content that is designated with attribution). These resources are freely available to the public for noncommercial, educational use. Requests to reproduce or adapt content must be submitted to Tribal Thought LLC (rule@american.edu) and the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (pr@pgcmls.info).

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