G abrielle Tayac, Ph.D., has spent part of the last three years researching the small echoes left behind by the Doeg people. This tribe once flourished in Fairfax County but disappeared centuries ago.

They “were the indigenous tribe of people that lived in what we now know as Northern Virginia. They lived in a number of villages, one of which was Tauxenet,” said Tayac. “They were really able to live their lives along the river. They lived through agriculture, and also working with all of the sources of life that we have in this very rich biosphere in the Chesapeake Bay region.”

Studying history allowed Tayac, an associate professor of public history at George Mason University, to continue advocating for indigenous rights, something she has been doing since she was 16. She is Piscataway on her father’s side, the granddaughter of Chief Turkey Tayac, a leading figure in the fight to keep that tribe together.

Her research on the Doeg began in earnest because she spied a historical marker on the side of the road. The sign was titled, “Indian Attack.”

“It was about a murder of people by Doeg and potentially Piscataway people in 1701. And being a historian, you know, I actually do try to look at historic markers, you know, something that we all kind of whiz by sometimes, especially at speeds in our cars,” said Tayac. “How many people have heard of Doeg really in this area or the Piscataway? And the only thing that we see on the side of a road is a little marker of something called Indian attack,” added Tayac.

The language perpetuated the trope of one-sided hostility but did nothing to add context. Tayac set out to do this by researching historical information, archaeological records, and interviews with descendants of the Doeg.

In 1608, shortly after Jamestown was colonized, Captain John Smith mapped much of the Chesapeake Bay area. He included all of the villages, towns, and peoples that he came across on his journey, including the Doeg and their village of Tauxenet.

encroachment on their lands and displacement that really the Virginia Colony declared war on them and just persecuted and hounded them for a number of years, to the point where they were already getting very dispersed and ended up on both sides of the river, further down the Potomac.”

Those who survived were absorbed into other nearby tribes, like the Piscataway and the Rappahannock. Today, there are still people in these tribes who can trace their ancestry back to the Doeg. Individual family bloodlines with oral histories also trace back.

“I like to start with talking to indigenous communities that are closest to the people that were lost. And seeing if there are any memories or words or understandings, and then going into the records, you c an look at archival records and documents, missionary reports and military files and start to look for people there,” said Tayac.

While attitudes have been changing for decades, her current research coincides with historic sites like Gunston Hall, and Woodlawn opting to include a broader range of historical narratives and tell them what Tayac called “the right way.”

Tayac believes that history should be heard in its fullness, not to create a sense of guilt, which can be paralyzing, but to understand and appreciate where we live. Connect everyone to the place names that exist without context, like Appomattox, Occoquan, Quantico, and Dogue Creek.

Today, Fairfax County has a rich tapestry of indigenous people from all over the Americas. People who nt to connect to their history. Fortunately, more historic sites are offering them opportunities to do this. Tayac cited the current exhibition at Woodlawn. Information about this exhibit has piqued the interest of several families in the county who can trace their ancestry to the Doeg people and want their stories added to the narrative.