November is Native American Heritage Month, or as it is commonly referred to, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The month of November is a time to acknowledge the important contributions of the Native community around the country and honor their diverse cultures, traditions, and histories. To honor Native American Heritage Month, this research guide will aim to raise awareness about the challenges Native people have faced both historically, in the present, as well as their experiences at Hampton Institute (now University).
Native American Sioux, Gros Ventre, Arikara, and Mandan
following their arrival at Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute, c 1879.
Early on in the history of, what we now know as Hampton University, The Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute conducted a Native American education program from 1878-1923. The first Indigenous students were originally prisoners of war held at Fort Marion Prison in St. Augustine, Florida and were transferred to Hampton in hopes that a formal education would work to further assimilate them. While some Native American students came willingly, not all were given a choice. The 'Indian Program' at Hampton University was one of the first to provide a Eurocentric education to Indigenous people and Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the founder of HU, was a strong proponent in expanding Native American policies and educational programs. Throughout the duration of the program, of the 1,388 Native American students that attended The Hampton Institute, only 160 students graduated.
Source: Lindsey, Donal F. (1995). "Indians at Hampton Institute 1877-1923". Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press
Prior to the colonial invasion of the 17th century, the city of Hampton was originally the home of the Kecoughtan People and their civilization. Led by one of the sons of the powerful chief Powahtan, this Algonquian-speaking tribe was the first Native American civilization to greet English settlers when they arrived in 1607. However, the Kecoughtan Tribe were displaced and killed in 1609 under the order of John Smith, the famous English colonist.
