Rose Powhatan is a Native American artist, author and cultural activist. She is descended from both the Pamunkey and Tauxenent tribal nations of the historic Powhatan Paramountcy, which extended from Virginia to Washington, DC. Powhatan was born in Washington, DC, its northernmost territory. Powhatan grew up in an extended family of 29 arts practitioners. She was greatly influenced by her mother, artist Georgia Mills Jessup (Contemporary Collection, National Museum of Women in the Arts). Powhatan was an art major at McKinley Senior High School in Washington, DC.

She later attended Howard University, where she won awards in painting, and earned both her BFA cum laude and MA degrees; graduate studies continued at Catholic University, Georgetown University and Trinity University; and both the Shakespeare Institute and the University of London, in the United Kingdom. She is also a Cafritz Foundation and Fulbright Scholar fellow. Powhatan’s artwork has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally at museums, galleries and US embassies. She is a published author on historic Indigenous topics and has written plays staged for young audiences. As an activist, Powhatan participated in civil rights activities; was Secretary of the National Underground Railroad Advisory Committee; organized voter registration; worked for Maryland state recognition of local tribes; was an elder in the Intertribal Women’s Circle; and served on numerous other boards. Rose Powhatan and her husband Michael Auld (Taino) co-founded the Powhatan Intertribal Museum to promote and preserve the history and presence of Indigenous people. Powhatan gave the first Land Acknowledgment for the 2019 opening of the Kennedy Center’s REACH and shared Eastern Woodlands stories at its “Indigenous Day”. As an inaugural member of the Culture Caucus, Powhatan curated both 2021 and 2022 Millennium Stage Summer Festivals.

Social Impact team in