This archive preserves a richly illustrated presentation given by Dr. Jim Glanville to the Smyth County Genealogical Society. In it, Glanville re-centers the American Indian story of Southwest Virginia—especially Holstonia—through archeological, linguistic, and cultural evidence, asserting that the earliest identifiable peoples of the region were Yuchi-speaking tribes.
Indigenous Insights
Cherokee, Yuchi, and other Native perspectives or cultural integration
4 Articles
This presentation offers compelling photographic and historical evidence that Mississippian-era American Indian cultures were deeply rooted in Smyth and Washington Counties, Virginia. Dr. Glanville, an independent scholar and adopted Yuchi Indian, assembled rare archival photographs and personal research to reveal a forgotten Indigenous presence—often overlooked by mainstream archeology.
This article introduces vital documentary evidence of the Yuchi people in Virginia, including a rare 1857 intertribal roll curated by the Remnant Yuchi Nation. Dr. Glanville—a dedicated researcher and adopted Yuchi member—presents new insights into the cultural continuity, spiritual resilience, and historical presence of the Yuchi in Smyth and Washington Counties. This roll, published here for the first time, is a bridge between Indigenous memory and academic restoration.
This research highlights compelling evidence that Spanish conquistadors reached Saltville, Virginia in 1567. Dr. Glanville’s detailed examination of historical routes, supported by maps and early records, challenges previous assumptions about the region’s early European contact.