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Youth & Family News

West Virginia 4-H youth experience Eastern Woodland Indian traditions

Young camper talking to Native American cultural expert in traditional headdress

Through a partnership with West Virginia University’s Native American Studies Program, West Virginia 4-H campers learned about Eastern Woodland Indians, the first people to inhabit what is today the Mountain State. With the state's American Indian/Alaska Native population estimated at less than 1%, West Virginia youth have few opportunities to learn directly from Native American educators. Campers in Braxton, Cabell, Kanawha, Mason, Roane and Wayne counties experienced the history, communities, agricultural practices and other traditional aspects about the earliest residents of the region from an Native American Eastern Woodland cultural expert.