Sense of Place

Rico Newman

At the November 13 CCASM meeting Rico Newman, a member of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe, talked about "Sense of Place", one of five parts of what could be used to describe the "World View" of Native Americans.  This World View was used to frame the discussion while documenting the oral history of the oldest Native Americans at the time.  Rico went on to mention various places associated with the Piscataway, the significance of the places, and the meaning of the names.  Many of these are located in federal, state, or county parks.  Rico is the director of the non-profit Maryland Indian Tourism Assoc., Inc.  He also talked about the efforts of the non-profit to create the Maryland Indian Heritage Trails in order to make people more aware of these locations and their significance to the Native American story.

Rico Newman is a former speaker for the Choptico Band of Indians and now serves as its Historic Preservation Officer.  He also recently accepted appointment to the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs.

Attendance: 20