VIRGINIA HUMANITIES RESEARCH FELLOW TALK The Riverkeepers: The Cherokees, Their Neighbors, and the Rivers that Made America

Join Virginia Humanities Research Fellow Greg Smithers, a professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University, for a talk on his research for a project entitled "The Riverkeepers: The Cherokees, Their Neighbors, and the Rivers that Made America." The book is a biography of aquatic places that Cherokee people and their indigenous neighbors believed were filled with spirits and ghosts, human and animal life, and forces that brought (and bring) the land to life. Ranging from pre-contact indigenous history through the present era of rapid climate change, the book will reveal the enduring significance of ecology while providing fresh insights into the diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural histories of Native-European encounters. Smithers is interested in the Library's map collection and colonial history holdings. For more information, contact emma.ito@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3726.