The Doeg and the Early Mason Family: Native Land, Lies, and Dispossession
The Mason Family’s influence on American colonies started early in the colonial period. George Mason I and George Mason II took part in the colonial experience that relied on the control and dispossession of Native people to gain wealth and power for themselves, mainly through land acquisition. While Mason I and Mason II relationships with Native people differ from each other in some aspects, each reflect the development of White-Native relations from the mid-17th century to the early 18th century in Colonial Virginia and Colonial Maryland.
Focusing on the experience of the Doeg Indians, this exhibit will show the Mason family’s relationships with Native people of the Potomac in their first two generations in America, and a family pattern of using their social prominence to further take power away from Native communities. The Mason’s achieved this by controlling Native people’s movement and dispossessing them of land through acts of violent conflict and government action.
Exhibit researched and created by Janine Hubai in consultation with Dr. George Oberle and Dr. Gabi Tayac with contributions from Dr. James Rice, Greta Swaine, Tony Guidone. Techinal assistance from Alyssa Fahringer. A special thanks to Gunston Hall for use of their archives and conversations.