The Cultural Heritage Resilience of the Great Dismal Swamp

This work highlights local narratives that sustain traditions amidst historical silences, connecting cultural values to heritage tourism and Indigenous stewardship.

The Cultural Heritage Resilience of the Great Dismal Swamp explores the cultural resilience of the Great Dismal Swamp, emphasizing narratives of local residents that sustain traditions amid historical silences. It connects cultural values, heritage tourism, and the legacy of freedom while advocating for landscape stewardship rooted in Indigenous practices. The book highlights how marginalized communities create empowering knowledge spaces to honor their heritage despite lacking external resources. The Great Dismal Swamp Region reflects rich historical and cultural heritage, with settlements like Mattoanoak, Bowers Hill, and Skeetertown, which have maintained ancestral lifeways. Despite historical silences about marginalized groups, community members create resilient cultural narratives that emphasize their connections to land and tradition, beckoning a return to their roots.

Christy Hyman is a digital humanist and environmental advocate with a PhD from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, who investigates African-American cultural assertion in the Great Dismal Swamp. Her fieldwork combines digital cartography and GIS to analyze socio-environmental issues, connecting historical and contemporary narratives. She holds faculty affiliations with Cornell University and University of North Carolina Charlotte and leads a range of environmental justice projects around public heritage and community resilience.