---
title: ‘We Are Still Here’
date: 2023-11-29T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/we-are-still-here"
section: Articles
---
# ‘We Are Still Here’

*November 29, 2023* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> First Piscataway-Led UMD Class on Indigenous Maryland History Explores Traditions, Colonization, Contemporary Issues

*HNUH268 W 11142023 RS 7727 1920x1080 — Piscataway-Conoy tribal members Tiara Thomas (center), Joe Harley (second from right) and Anjela Barnes '04 (far right), speak to Assistant Clinical Professor Angela Stoltz (left), at Yahentamitsi dining hall, where they co-teach a new Honors College course on local Indigenous history and culture. “This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Harley, who grew up attending segregated schools and being told by his parents to hide his background. “It’s important we tell Piscataway stories as part of Maryland history. The Indigenous tribes were here first.”*

Growing up in Charles County, Md., Anjela Barnes ’04 loved swimming, fishing, and paddling in Mattawoman Creek, just off the Potomac River.

As a Piscataway, “being outdoors is such an important part of our culture,” said Barnes, now the executive director of the Accokeek Foundation. “I remember as a kid, digging into the muck to find clams,” as her ancestors did in this area for thousands of years.

This fall, Barnes took University of Maryland students to the creek as part of “Where the Waters Blend: Contemporary Indigenous Perspectives on History, Traditions, and Modern Issues” (HNUH268W), a new course offered by the Honors College's [University Honors](https://universityhonors.umd.edu/) program.

Prior to going out on kayaks, students were given the chance to offer tobacco in gratitude for the land and water by Mario Harley, vice chair of the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe. Out on the creek, they learned about the abundant variety of native plants, such as wild rice and tuckahoe, their characteristics and their relevance to the health of the ecosystem.


*People in kayaks — Anjela Barnes '04, center, teaches students about native plants and the Piscataway relationship with the ecosystem at Mattawoman Creek. (Photo by Angela Stoltz)*


*UMD Land Acknowledgement outside Yahentamitsi dining hall*


*People talk in front of a wall that says "We Are Still Here" — From left: Piscataway-Conoy tribal members Tiara Thomas, Anjela Barnes '04 and Zelda Proctor discuss the new Honors College course about Indigenous Maryland with Assistant Clinical Professor Angela Stoltz (right).*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/education), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience), [Multicultural Community](https://today.umd.edu/topic/multicultural-community)


**Units:** [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education), [Honors College](https://today.umd.edu/topic/honors-college)