Minnie Ha-Ha Educational Trading Post

01/01/2026

Blessings on this new beginning

11/07/2025

An attempt to erase our past, our future and even ourselves. They did not win. They will never win.

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government and Christian denominations operated boarding schools where generations of Native American children were isolated from their families

11/06/2025

November is here, and it’s time to celebrate Native American Heritage Month! 🎉🪶 This month is dedicated to honoring the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of Native American communities.

10/10/2025

‼️ IMPORTANT UPDATE ‼️

Due to the predicted weather forecast on Sunday, the powwow will be canceled (10/12).

We are still on for Saturday (10/11), come out and join us! We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

‼️ Please share this important update ‼️

10/09/2025

We are growing and moving forward

Seven projects centering Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) history in Virginia are receiving a combined $2.5 million in grant funding, including two projects in Central Virginia.

09/25/2025

The Powhatan year was divided into five seasons, each with its own rhythm of work, food, and community life. Their diet was diverse and balanced, made up from the wealth of resources available in the Coastal Plain. Here’s how the cycle of the year shaped daily life:

☀️ Cohattayough – Summer
A season of plenty. Freshwater fish, shellfish, fruits, wild grains, and Tuckahoe root were abundant. Women and children weeded crops and harvested some early green corn

🌽Nepinough – Early Fall
Harvest time. Corn, beans, squash, fruits, and wild grains were harvested. Surpluses were preserved (smoked, dried, and stored) for the winter and sometimes offered as tribute to Powhatan leaders.

🍂 Taquitock – Late Fall
Communal hunts provided meat and other resources. Families set up temporary camps to process deer and other game, preparing it to carry home

❄️ Popanow – Winter
A lean season. Families relied on hunts and preserved foods, while women gathered nuts and wild plants to supplement the winter diet.

🌸 Cattapeuk – Spring
Time to leave town in search of food. Men fished with spears, arrows, bone hooks, and woven nets. Oysters and shellfish were gathered. By late spring, women and children planted corn, beans, and squash.

09/09/2025

Congratulations

07/22/2025

Beautiful work

Last week we shared an image of Rebecca Haff Lowry's (Delaware) turkey cape from "To Carry the Wind: The Revitalization of Feather Mantles, Capes, and Cultural Memory" and this week we're sharing a photo of Julia Marden (Aquinnah Wampanoag) and her full-length turkey feather mantle.

"Marden gained national recognition with the public unveiling of a spectacular turkey feather mantle—measuring four feet tall, six feet wide, and tailored to her body—at the Aquinnah Wampanoag Powwow in 2023. ... With the production of two rows per day, each requiring approximately two hours, from start to finish the project was completed over the span of a year. Her work constitutes the first—and most historically accurate—close-twine feather mantle created in Aquinnah Wampanoag territory in the past 400 years." Read more about this and other extraordinary feather mantle and cape projects in our Summer 2025 issue.

Pictured: Julia Marden (Aquinnah Wampanoag) modeling her full-length turkey feather mantle at the Aquinnah Cultural Center in Massachusetts, 2024. Photo: Aquinnah Cultural Center

07/15/2025

This film project has been funded to the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC) by a grant from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture's Commonwealt...

07/10/2025

🔔 9 historical highway markers have been approved by the state's Board of Historic Resources! The markers will feature various topics in the Commonwealth’s history, including one of Virginia’s oldest continuously published newspapers; one of the nation’s longest-operating African American women’s book clubs; and the consequences of a 1924 Virginia law that effectively excluded Indigenous people from official state records.
🔗 Check the link in our bio to learn more!

07/10/2025

Powhatan's Mantle is considered a sacred artifact by Tribes in Virginia. So, how did it end up in a British museum?