This month’s Science on the Sound talk, hosted by the Coastal Studies Institute, will delve into the history, culture and legacy of the Algonquians of eastern North Carolina.
Dr. Chris Oakley, professor in the history department at East Carolina University in Greenville and a 2022 Integrated Coastal Programs Coastal Fellow, will be at the ECU Outer Banks Campus 6 p.m. Thursday to share his research on coastal Algonquians native to the region in a presentation entitled “Maritime Indians: The Coastal Algonquians of the Outer Banks.” The lecture is free to attend and all are welcome. The institute is located at 850 N.C. 345, Wanchese.
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Science on the Sound is a monthly, in-person, lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina. The program will be live-streamed and a recorded version will be available for later viewing on the CSI YouTube Channel.
This facet of Oakley’s research examines the maritime history, culture and legacy of the Carolina Algonquians of eastern North Carolina, and his study as an Integrated Coastal Programs Coastal Fellow employed a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating history, anthropology, archaeology, geography and biology.
According to information the institute provided about Oakley’s research, there is also a tendency to think of Native Americans as exclusively terrestrial people and cultures, but evidence suggests that their culture was heavily influenced by the sea and the coast.
“In fact, a significant portion of their culture and society was based on an environment that was dominated by the presence of water, especially the large sounds created by the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.”
