April 20 to April 27
In 1666, in their efforts to steal the land of the Patawomeck people in what is now Virginia, colonists massacred the men of the Patawomeck tribe and took the women and children as slaves, marching them to the coast to slave ships that would take most of them to their deaths in the brutal sugar fields of the Barbados.
In the new book 1666: A Novel, author Lora Chilton, a member of the tribe, renders a fictionalized reimagining told from the point of view of the two women who escaped slavery in Barbados and make their way back to Virginia. Their escape and return is why the tribe is in existence today.
To honor the women who suffered this ordeal and to pay tribute to the tribe’s ultimate survival in part because of these two courageous women, author Lora Chilton's book tour will follow this imagined route from Fredericksburg through Richmond and Williamsburg to Hampton in Virginia
Commemorative 1666 Day
Retrace the Route of the Patawomeck Women with Lora Chilton
How the author came to tell this story
Lora tells a powerful story of discovering her own heritage and then uncovering this story that up until now has only been known within the tribe. At each event, Lora will share how she came to write this story, how she studied the Patawomeck language, interviewed the elders of her tribe who kept the story alive through oral tradition, as well as conducted her own research in order to create an authentic retelling. Read more about Lora Chilton
1666: A Novel
BY LORA CHILTON
The survival story of the Patawomeck Tribe of Virginia has been remembered within the tribe for generations, but the massacre of Patawomeck men and the enslavement of women and children by land hungry colonists in 1666 has been mostly unknown outside of the tribe until now. Author Lora Chilton, a member of the tribe through the lineage of her father, has created this powerful fictional retelling of the survival of the tribe through the lives of three women.
About Lora Chilton
A member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia, Lora Chilton tells the story of her people and their unlikely survival due to the courage of three Patawomeck women. As a part of the process, she interviewed tribal elders, researched colonial documents and studied the Patawomeck language. Chilton graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. She has worked as a Registered Nurse, a small business owner, an elected official, a non-profit executive and a writer. Memphis is her home. 1666: A Novel is her second work of historical fiction.