In Virginia’s vast and varied landscapes, the earth beneath our feet holds the stories of its Indigenous people. The cultural landscapes of the state are deeply intertwined with those of the Indigenous groups that occupied and stewarded the land for thousands of years. At Machicomoco (meaning Special Meeting Place), the landscape architects, working closely with Virginia Algonquian tribal members, designed a site focused on their history, cosmology, and landscape.

Machicomoco is richly layered in cultural and ecological history, located on a peninsula with multiple kinds of quintessential Virginia landscapes: maritime forest, marsh, uplands, wetlands, and estuarine habitat. The Park was established ten miles downstream of Werowocomoco, the capital of the historic Powhatan Confederacy – a conglomerate of approximately 32 Algonquin-speaking tribes. It was formed and led under the rule of Chief Wahunseca, more commonly known as Chief Powhatan.

The landscape architect-led design and interpretive plan was made collaboratively with several Virginia Algonquian Tribes, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and subject experts from the College of William and Mary. The plan focused on revealing the obscured history of Virginia’s Algonquian landscape artfully and compellingly to a wide audience. The communication strategy relied on two devices to share the past, present, and future of the Virginia Algonquian tribes and to attune visitors’ senses to the natural environment through the lens of the Algonquian worldview. Through graphic signage and a powerful narrative, the plan conveys the history of Algonquian lifeways and inspires visitors’ curiosity.

The Interpretive Pavilion, the main visitor entry point, integrates materials and spatial design with revelatory content. Before entering the pavilion to reach the landscape, visitors pass a cubelike sculptural representation of a shell midden, a type of repository of shellfish remains found in locations around the world left behind by coastal peoples. The sculpture refers to archaeological work identifying the Algonquian oyster shell midden in and around the parkland. The simple cubic form also harkens to the universal importance of data, knowledge, and evidence in unearthing essential histories.

Simple but distinct symbology and key Algonquian terms developed into graphics that appear sensitively throughout the site, on furniture, structures, and other elements. These cues fold seamlessly into the site design and remind visitors of Algonquian history throughout their experience on the grounds, which is geared mindfully toward this singular landscape.

The design team’s primary goal was to honor and express the Algonquian history of the landscape while providing recreational and educational opportunities for the Algonquian tribes, surrounding communities, and park visitors. The design creates an engaging lens for considering the breadth of the land’s cultural and ecological legacy and the landscape of Machicomoco and greater Tsenacomocah. It weaves visitor engagement and education into the site’s design elements, focus areas, and strategies in ways that encourage people to absorb the essential narratives of the region’s history and ecology.

Project Typology:
US State Park, Cultural Landscape

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