Final Project: A study of Old Rag Mountain

Throughout this course, there is one aspect of counter-mapping and genealogy of place that has captured me beyond all else, the resonation of connectivity between body and land. Before this course, I lacked knowledge of why certain spaces within nature were so healing for me. Within a specific area, such as the one I will explore on this tour, I could feel so grounded and acknowledged within a space and larger ecosystem. From the playful musings carried along with the breeze to the healing touch of the sun on my skin as a scaled the mountainous terrain, my genealogy of space and place of Old Rag Trail, better known as the ancestral home of the Manahoac and Shawandasse Tula peoples, details a sacred and personal history. Above all else, as a non-native individual, I hope my audial, photographic and historical analysis emphasizes the importance of cultivating strains within one’s tradition that prioritize connectivity to place. As a visitor to the land and space I currently occupy, there is an importance to explore this fugitive space of indigenity and act as a willing observer of critical ruptures of colonial, normative categories. Moreover, I hope my genealogy of place will function from a place of respect for those indigenous peoples of the land I have to come to find refuge within.