Welcome to Moundville’s first Virtual Native American Festival!

Moundville’s Virtual Native American Festival offers many of the same performances and demonstrations as the beloved on-site festival — but in an online format.

Some of our events will be offered live via YouTube or Facebook; other content will be recorded or available for download.  Enjoy!

View our Festival Program!

Portals to the Past: Virtual Exhibits, Virtual Tours, and Archaeology in Action

Virtual Escape Room  & Tours

Visit the Jones Archaeological Museum where state-of-the-art exhibits tell a story of the nobility who once lived at Moundville. Stunning artifacts, recreated scenery and a special effects theatre are all part of the new displays. Explore the park without leaving your home or office on a virtual tour and learn about the mounds and the natural resources surrounding them.

Explore Virtual Exhibits and Tours.

Archaeological Horizons

Join UA Museums’ archaeologists as they explain how scientists excavate and discover new things about the ancient Moundville people. Archaeologists reveal what we know about Moundville as well as researchers’ latest findings in these videos.

Check out Archaeological Horizons.

Native American Stage: Daily Live Performances

The Native American Stage features renowned dancers, storytellers and musicians. Hear the heartbeat of native music in the sound of the drums and rattles. Discover why certain animals look or act the way they do as described in ancient native stories and legends. Listen to voices blended in haunting harmony or the beautiful notes of flutes floating on the breeze. Both traditional and contemporary performances are featured throughout the Virtual Moundville Native American Festival.

Check out the schedule of performances on the Native American Stage.

Arts and Crafts Demonstrations

See pottery being pit fired or learn how Choctaws make rivercane baskets. Watch fire being kindled by friction or talk with a world-class bowman as he carves a wooden longbow. Witness these experts as they shoot the bow and arrow or throw a spear 50 yards with the help of a special “stick” called an atlatl. See how a hollow piece of cane can be used to create a deadly dart. Native Americans and other experts demonstrate these and many other arts, crafts, and technologies.

See our schedule of demonstrations, and links to pre-recorded arts and crafts videos.

Living History

Discover why the fur trade was so important to Indians in the late 1700s and early 1800s in the Living History Camp. Through its sights, and sounds, these reenactors bring the past to life. You can see native foods cooking on an open fire or hear an elder describe his journeys through the wilderness. Reenactors are dressed in period clothing, their authentic camps filled with items suggesting this important past trade era.

Look for living history on our schedule of demonstrations, and links to pre-recorded arts and crafts videos.

Virtual Breakout Room

● Thursday, October 7 at 10 AM for Students
● Thursday, October 7 at 7 PM for General Public

Event Description

This virtual education experience will offer you a chance to connect, play, and laugh your way through Moundville Archaeological Park and the Jones Archaeological Museum. Your Host (Rebecca Johnson, The University of Alabama Museums‘ Communications Specialist) will give you clues and instructions while your Tour Guide (Lindsey Gordon, Moundville’s Education Outreach Coordinator) will be in the museum with a live video feed acting as your eyes, ears, hands, and feet. Rebecca will help you watch videos, and help you keep track of the items and clues you find along the way. This interactive experience would be catered to classrooms on Thursday, October 7 at 10 AM. Each class will have to work together using Moundville’s history to solve one of Moundville’s Museum Mysteries!

How to Sign Up

Educators: Sign you class up for the experience through this online form.

Registrations for the October 7th 10am Breakout Room closes at October 7th at 8am.

Mvskoke Language Program

The Mvskoke Language Program preserves, maintains and revitalizes the language of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, they will be implementing audio and visual language instruction to our viewers. Join us  Friday, October 8th  at 11:00am for the educational experience. Watch it live on the UA Museum YouTube Channel.

Cook with Us

Enjoy creating some traditional foods in the comfort of your home. Join us Friday, October 8th at 7 PM for a live cooking demonstration. For dinner, please check out our Maque Choux cooking demonstration with Grayhawk Perkins.  Watch it live on the UA Museum YouTube Channel.

Knotted Bird Gift Shop

Visit the virtual gift shop to pick up one of our annual festival souvenirs, or crafts.

Teacher’s Corner and Children’s Area

Teachers:  You get access to these great classroom resources, including lesson plans tied to the virtual festival.

Children’s Area: Hands-On Activities

Kids of all ages will get firsthand experience in playing native games and making simple crafts in the virtual Children’s Area, a special site section available to anyone. Through our how-to videos, children will make a shell bead necklace and a turtle shell rattle.

See what’s happening in our Children’s Area.

Native American Festival Coloring Contest

The Virtual Moundville Native American Festival is reaching out to everyone young and old to participate in a coloring contest! We will be accepting submissions from October 6-18, 2021.

Who can submit their coloring sheet?
Anyone!

We are accepting submissions in four age categories:

• K-3rd Grade
• 4th-8th Grade
• 9th-12th Grade
• Adult

What are the prizes?
Contest winners will be featured be featured on UA Museums’ social media pages and websites. Winners from each category will receive two tickets to next year’s 2022 Moundville Native American Festival at Moundville Archaeological Park.

There are three ways to enter this year’s coloring contest!

1.  Download the Festival color sheet
2. Submit you art using this online form.
3. Stop by the Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park to turn in your coloring page.
4. Mail your coloring page to:
   Moundville Archaeological Park
   634 Mound State Parkway
   Moundville, AL 35474

Please make sure to turn in your coloring pages by October 18, 2021. The winner will be announced on October 17, 2021 on our Facebook page and by phone.

In-Person Exhibit

Weaving Muscogee Creek Culture: The Artistry of Mary Smith

Mary Smith is an exceptional contemporary artist who celebrates her heritage through her artwork. Smith is based in Bixby, Oklahoma and is a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, where she currently teaches and practices basket weaving amongst other art forms. Unlike most artists, Smith did not begin her career until she was in her 40s when she was working at the Creek Council House Museum. Here, she taught herself basket-weaving because the Museum needed an instructor. This determination, which is a facet of her personality, propelled Smith into a successful and rewarding career as a contemporary Muscogee Creek artist. While Smith is best known for reviving the Muscogee Creek double false braid rim technique in basketry, she also creates pottery and other art forms. She has won numerous accolades, such as Best of Show at the Five Tribes Museum and “Best of Class” at the 6th Annual Cherokee Art Market at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, OK, and continues to teach in Oklahoma. Smith has had an incredible impact on the revitalization of indigenous art forms and her artwork is bridging the gap between past and future Native Artists.