Arts & Culture

University Honors Advocate for the Monacan Indian Nation With a Memorial Portrait

August 14, 2024 • By Mike Mather, mike.mather@virginia.edu Mike Mather, mike.mather@virginia.edu

UVA President Jim Ryan and Teresa Pollack, a member of the Monacan Indian Nation, unveil a portrait of Karenne Wood in the Rotunda’s Dome Room.

UVA President Jim Ryan and Teresa Pollak, a member of the Monacan Indian Nation, unveil a portrait of Karenne Wood in the Rotunda’s Dome Room. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan on Tuesday unveiled a portrait of Karenne Wood, whose roles at the University included researching and teaching the history of the Monacan Indian Nation while tirelessly advocating for its members.

The unveiling was part of the president’s portrait series highlighting people who have broken barriers, championed change and left indelible marks on the fabric of UVA. Wood, a member of the Monacan Nation, died in 2019, but Ryan remarked her influence at the University has continued.

“Karenne was an obvious candidate for the project,” Ryan told the assembled guests in the Rotunda Dome Room, including Woods’ family, tribal leaders and members of the University’s Native American Student Union. “She devoted her life to advocate for Native Virginians and built lasting relationships between those communities and UVA.”

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Ryan noted the Dome Room was also the location where, two decades earlier, Wood first assembled a gathering of people to study the Monacan Nation’s history.

The portrait, which will hang in Shannon Library as part of the University’s Fine and Decorative Arts Collection, depicts Wood in her regalia in front of Bear Mountain, the headquarters of the Monacan Nation. “I hope it will inspire new generations to choose to build bridges across differences and act with courage, just as Karenne did,” Ryan said.

A close up of the portrait that depicts Wood in front of Bear Mountain, the Monacan Nation’s headquarters.

The portrait depicts Wood in front of Bear Mountain, the Monacan Nation’s headquarters. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Wood directed Virginia Indian Programs at Virginia Humanities and tribal history programs for the Monacan Nation. She also influenced how museums and educational institutions teach Native American history and was a keynote speaker at UVA’s bicentennial celebration. UVA is located on ancestral Monacan Nation land.

Wood, who died in 2019 after a battle with cancer, was “the changemaker and the barrier breaker who has helped to shape the story of UVA,” Ryan said. (Photo by Jessica Elmendorf)

Wood also wrote poetry, including verses about her battle with the cancer that took her life at 59.

Artist Esther Candari, who earlier worked with the Monacan Nation to paint a mural in Amherst, created the portrait.

The portrait’s label cites Wood as a “poet, mother, linguistic anthropologist, alumnae, community member, iris enthusiast.”

The label continues: “She was a tireless advocate for equality, accessibility, and repair.”

“She is the reason that we are all here today,” Ryan said. “She is the changemaker and the barrier breaker who has helped to shape the story of UVA. So, in her honor, I hope we will continue to strengthen the partnerships that Karenne envisioned so as to carry her legacy forward.”