Nov. 10, 2015
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. - Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will celebrate Native American Month with its monthly lecture and film series on Thursday, Nov. 19, with a program titled “Guyasuta: Defender of the Ohio River Valley.” Award-winning historian and author Brady J. Crytzer will present the program at 7 p.m. He will conduct a book signing after his lecture. The event is free and open to the public.
Born in the Genesee River Valley of New York, the Seneca chief Guyasuta was one of the primary diplomats and warriors of the Ohio River Valley. From his position of power, Guyasuta found himself on the front lines of the Seven Years’ War, Pontiac’s Rebellion, Lord Dunmore’s War, the American Revolution, and the Northwest Indian War. He negotiated several treaties with the superpowers of Europe that helped his people in a rapidly changing world. Crytzer will delve into the details of the Native American culture of the Ohio River Valley to explain the leadership role Guyasuta played in the area.
Crytzer teaches history at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa., and has been honored with the Donald S. Kelly and Donna J. McKee Awards for outstanding scholarship and service in the academic discipline of history. A specialist in North American imperialism, he is the author of four books, including Major Washington’s Pittsburgh and the Mission for Fort Le Boeuf (The History Press, 2011), Fort Pitt: A Frontier History (The History Press, 2012), Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian America (Westholme Publishing, 2013) and his latest work, Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and the War for British North America (Westholme Publishing, 2015). Crytzer also is the host of the hit cable series Battlefield Pennsylvania on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). He holds a bachelor’s degree in social studies and a master’s degree in history, both from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.
For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or [email protected] or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.twitter.com/gravecreekmound.
Operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250 - 150 B.C. and ranks as one of the largest earthen mortuary mounds anywhere in the world. Exhibits and displays in the Delf Norona Museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The complex also houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility. The Delf Norona Museum, located at 801 Jefferson Avenue, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It is closed Sunday and Monday.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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Media Note: Click here for a photograph of Brady Crytzer.
