Wetlands in Defiance: Exploring African-American Resistance in the Great Dismal Swamp

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina (US) was home to disenfranchised Native Americans, enslaved canal company labourers and Maroons (‘fugitive slaves’) who lived in the wetlands temporarily and long term ca. 1607–1863. This paper discusses the methods and results of recent exploration and excavation in Virginia on the Williamson North and Williamson South sites. Publicly available LiDAR data and on-the-ground exploration facilitated identification of both potential archaeological sites and subtle terrain features across the rather inaccessible landscape. By studying the local place variations and connections between wet and dry spaces subsumed under the Swamp moniker, it is possible to glimpse a more nuanced historical landscape. Newly identified sites in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge demonstrate that the smallest islands in the Swamp and the wet areas surrounding them should not be overlooked as we work to understand the landscape of resistance created by Maroons.