May 11th is National Day of the Bead, so let’s talk about the most infamous bead from the East Coast, Wampum! What was it? The word “Wampum” actually comes from the Nanhigganeuck (Narragansett) word wampumeag and literally means ‘white shell beads’. Though often thought to be the name of the […]
Natural History
21 posts
It’s National Public Gardens Week and we’re all about growing native species! You may recall that last year, we partnered with Backyard Butterflies and Wooden Sea Tree Care to put in a pollinator garden. Backyard Butterflies donated 150 native plants and Wooden Sea Tree Care donated mulch. We put in […]
It’s National Wildflower Week and we’re all about growing native species! As you may know, we’ve got a lovely Nature Trail and have started a pollinator garden project along the front of the building. Wildflowers are an easy way to add color and attract some really interesting wildlife to your […]
Earth Day at the RWS Community Building was an incredible experience with lots of really fun interactions with friendly people. As always, the kids were the best as they were excited to learn and full of questions. Visitors got to try on glasses that let them see like a spider, […]
Wow wow wow WOW! It has been a little bit of time since we’ve started this project and we’ve been excited to see the progress slowly continuing day by day. The last week of June, Lior of Backyard Butterflies came with over 100 young plants. It was the hottest week […]
We get so many lovely visitors to the museum and we recently had the absolute joy of a woman who worked with the National Park Service (NPS) around the capital that was a part of the Invasive Plant Management Team (IPMT). She graciously took the time to explain what she […]
A while back, a visitor asked whether 1) sea oats were edible and 2) did indigenous people here eat them if they were? It’s taken a bit to finally answer this question because there’s not a lot of information focused on the edibility of them from reliable resources. But we’re […]
As many of you know by now, the snow storm that hit the east coast on January 22nd did not overlook the Outer Banks. While they predicted only up to about 3 inches at first, reports were between 7-9 by the end of the day from Nags Head to Ocracoke! […]
Happy National Bird Day! Bird Day was started to raise awareness of the role of birds in the ecosystem as well as their conservation. DID YOU KNOW… That most bird feathers are federally protected even if you just find them on the ground? In 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act […]
We are working on several avenues to bring more native plants and pollinators to our museum grounds and Nature Trail to both support our native ecosystem and educate our visitors. In that spirit, we’d like to introduce Euphorbia cyathophora, also called Wild Poinsettia or Fire-on-the-Mountain. This unique looking plant makes […]
When we announced a GoFundMe to try and raise funds for a very large outdoor sign, we were delighted to reach our goal with mind-blowing speed! We sent it ASAP to Hatteras Island Vinyl Graphics in Buxton and waited patiently for the call. We knew it would be special but […]
A newly published paper on 22 new species of gall wasp may not be something you’d ever consider as having any connection to Native American culture. Most people have seen a gall before. A strange growth on a plant that makes the stem bumpy or puffed up. Sometimes little furry […]