Ancestral Land Management Interns – National Park Service (Yorktown, VA)

Job Overview

Title: Werowocomoco Ancestral Lands Interns

Location: Based out of Jamestown, VA (work locations to include Yorktown and Gloucester, VA with some other work-related training opportunities that may require additional travel) 

Positions Available: 2 Internships

Pay: $515/week

Estimated Position Dates: 26 weeks with an estimated start date in July, August or September 2022 (flexible)

Status: This is a full-time, 900 hour AmeriCorps National Service position.  

Questions? Contact: [email protected] 

Due to funding requirements, this position prioritizes applicants from Native American communities.

The Werowocomoco Ancestral Lands Individual Placement is based at Colonial National Historical Park (Colonial NHP) in Yorktown, Virginia. The National Park Service staff at Colonial NHP and the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail are responsible for the protection of Werowocomoco in Gloucester VA. National Park Service staff in consultation with seven tribal partners is gathering information about Werowocomoco, understanding it as a Native place, and preparing Werowocomoco to open to the public.

Werowocomoco is an internationally significant Native place where the leader Wahunsenacawh, also known as Powhatan, lived and received the newly arrived English leaders. Archeology shows that Native people had been coming to Werowocomoco for thousands of years, and that by the year 1200, many homes were placed there along the river bluff. The interior of the site included landscape features that marked it as a place of leadership.

Continuing in 2022, the National Park Service will host two people in this Individual Placement program that will introduce participants to major aspects of national park operations. Individual Placements will train with staff from four divisions at Colonial NHP — Interpretation & Education, Law Enforcement, Facility Management, and Resource Management — and then work with staff to apply new skills at and for Werowocomoco as circumstances allow.