You are standing in front of a graphic panel titled “New Arrivals.” To your left is a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: An Area Rich in Resources.” To your right is a doorway leading to section one of the exhibition: Introduction and First Peoples. Behind you is a large artifact case.

The panel in front of you includes text and three images.

The main text reads:

New Arrivals 

The first Europeans arrived in the Chesapeake Bay region in the early 1600s. They brought their own cultures and traditions as well as deadly diseases that devastated Native populations.

The Europeans’ arrival upset the delicate balance Native Americans had achieved with the environment over thousands of years. By the end of the 1600s, local Native populations had plummeted due to disease, displacement, and the depletion of the natural resources on which they depended.

The secondary text reads:

Forced from Their Homes

Europeans forced Native Americans to sign treaties ceding their territories in return for promises of hunting rights and fair treatment under the law. But the terms of these treaties were largely ignored. Many Native communities were forced westward, merged with other groups, and survived.

The accompanying images include:

An illustration of a Native American settlement. It depicts wooden structures, crops growing in a field, and Native Peoples preparing meals and taking part in ceremonies. The caption reads: A drawing by British artist and explorer John White, ca. 1585, shows the Algonquian village of Secotan in present-day North Carolina.

A painting of Europeans and Native Americans gathered in a forest. The Europeans carry a wooden cross and flags. The caption reads: The Planting of the Colony of Maryland by Francis Blackwell Mayer, painted in 1893, depicts the first European settlers arriving in Maryland in 1634.

A background image, showing a detail from a historic map. The caption reads: Detail of a map of Virginia and Maryland by Augustine Herman, 1670.