About

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. 

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).

Guide to Indigenous Maryland App & Logo ©Tribal Thought LLC

Guide to Indigenous Maryland Website ©Prince George’s County Memorial Library System

Designed by Brian Habib