CROATOAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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Mission Statement
The Croatoan Archaeological Society is a 501c3 federally tax exempt nonprofit organization whose purpose is to unearth the hidden history of Croatoan, modern-day Hatteras Island in North Carolina, via the methods of archaeology, and share the knowledge gained through public displays, lectures, workshops, symposiums and community involvement. The CAS was founded in 2009, and has been working conjunctively with the University of Bristol England on the international Croatoan Archaeological Project since its inception.
About This Cause
The Croatoan Archaeological Society (CAS) was founded in 2009, by Scott Dawson, a native of Hatteras Island and local author/historian, and his wife, Maggie Dawson. The CAS began working conjunctively with Professor of Archaeology Mark Horton of the University of Bristol, England (UoB) in November of 2009 on the Croatoan Archaeological Project (CAP), an international collaborative archaeological research project which will enter its 6th season of excavation in Spring of 2015. The CAS and UoB under the direction of Professor Mark Horton have unearthed some of the most exciting artifacts found in the United States in regards to the Early English-Native Contact Period of the late 16th Century. In addition, the knowledge gained regarding the Native People of Croatoan has shown that people inhabited this area as far back as 10,000-12,000 years ago. Hatteras Island has long been an interest of archaeologists because Croatoan was the stated destination of the Lost Colony of 1587, 'America's Oldest Mystery.' Hence, many an archaeologist has come to Hatteras (Croatoan) in hopes of finding the key piece of evidence locating the Lost Colony and solving this 'Oldest Mystery.' What archaeologist wouldn't want to be that person? However, in the process of their quest to find the 'missing link'... many an archaeologist has allowed greed to rule their research and process, and over the past 60 years and more, many...many... native and local Hatteras people have had their family heirlooms and artifacts from their land taken from them by these archaeologists in order to 'study them further in a lab'.... always with a promise to return the artifacts. Over the years, the native/local people learned a hard and valuable lesson... not to allow anyone to dig on their land, as all the artifacts have left the island only to disappear and never be returned. The CAS, being formed by one of those native people, Scott Dawson, and his wife Maggie, made it their utmost priority to change this statistic. They believed that the history and archaeology of Hatteras was valuable and that the local community deserved to be a part of this history and to proudly display their artifacts on their island without threat of them being confiscated in the name of 'science,' only to then be stored in a warehouse in another state. Since its inception in 2009, the CAS has been conducting full scale archaeological excavations with the University of Bristol, England under the direction of Professor Mark Horton (UoB). Each year in the Spring, Prof Horton and a team of UoB graduate and undergraduate archaeology students fly over the mighty Atlantic, and come to the tiny sandbar of Hatteras Island to conduct archaeological research with the involvement of the community... something a bit foreign to Americans... and it has a name... it is called Community Archaeology. The entire philosophy of Community Archaeology is that the local community becomes involved in the entire process, and the artifacts remain in the community for the benefit of the community. Each year during the Spring Dig, in addition to the excavations/research, Prof Horton conducts lectures and presentations for the community reviewing his research/findings, and the CAS holds multiple community events each year, always including an event for the local Hatteras Island children. Most recently, the CAS /UoB have begun a project with the Cape Hatteras Secondary School titled the CAS/CHSS Collaborative Research Project, where the local students grades 6-12 were able to participate in every aspect of an authentic hands-on archaeological excavation, and learn the entire process, an international experience brought to these children which has no comparison in value. Most importantly, the CAS is very proud to be able to state that ALL of the artifacts found during the CAS/ UoB digs have remained on the Island for the benefit of the community! The majority of the significant finds/artifacts are currently on display at the Hatteras Village Community Building/ Library gallery room, and are available to be viewed by the public for free any time during the regular business hours of operation. Along with the artifacts, there are written displays regarding the history and significance of the finds. The CAS has also set up a 2nd display at the Hatteras Island Ocean Center with a small case of artifacts, and a video touchscreen interactive teaching system, whereby visitors can watch videos of the excavations taking place, and see some archaeology in action. We are very proud of our humble little organization, however in order to continue our community work and research, we need more outside funding. Hatteras Island is a small fishing community with a predominantly tourist-based economy and a short 3-month tourist season. As such, the local community does not have a large financial resource base to help fund this type of international project. Over the past 5 years, funding has mostly come from individual donations, small local sponsorships, and a few small grants the largest of which was only $2000). It is our hope that by joining the Benevity Causes Portal, we will be able to access some outside financial resources to pull into our small community project, and finally help our organization and project take that next leap forward.