Exploring Traditional Use and Association Through the Ethnographic Overview and Assessment for Assateague Island National Seashore

Abstract

Assateague, a dynamic barrier island extending from just south of Ocean City, Maryland, to the northern portions of Virginia's eastern shore, was added to the National Park Service (NPS) system in 1965 (Mackintosh 1982) and now draws roughly 2 million visitors per year (Bentley 2008). Prior to the Seashore's establishment, however, the island and its environs drew a range of people from fishermen to land developers. While today's Eastern Shore communities continue many of their traditional lifeways related to the island, they now share its resources with tourists from around the world who are drawn to the seeming pristine beaches and famed wild ponies, managed today by two federal agencies (NPS and United States Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]).