Conquistadors and Chiefdoms: The Hidden History of 40HA84

The 20th Annual Rita Vital Memorial Moccasin Bend Fall Lecture Series begins on Monday, September 22 at 7:00 pm in the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Auditorium. 

National Park Partners presents three unique Moccasin Bend Lecture Series events each fall with fascinating speakers and topics related to National Parks and conservation; Indigenous culture and history; and Chattanooga’s place in the U.S. Civil War. Founded in 2006, the series is underwritten by TN State Rep. Greg A. Vital and now celebrates its 20th anniversary thanks to his generous sponsorship.

All lectures are FREE and open to the public.

Recordings of previous lectures are available on-demand on our YouTube Channel.

Ava Lowery will utilize historical accounts and archaeological evidence to illustrate the complex social and military relationships between and within the Coosa chiefdom along with Spanish conquistador Tristán de Luna’s 1560 expedition into the interior Southeast. With Little Owl Village at Audubon Acres and other local archaeological sites as the setting, there is a significant framework for a discussion of the sociopolitical environment of the Mississippian period in the Chattanooga area during early European contact, colonial power dynamics, struggles for sovereignty within the Native population, and narratives of power in the context of practicing cultural preservation today.

Lowery earned her BS in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Beginning in the summer of 2023, she interned under two dedicated professors for UTC’s NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) compliance efforts until graduation and received a Jeffrey L. Brown Memorial Scholarship Award for her participation. Later in January 2024, she used and expanded the same skills in a voluntary repatriation project for Chattanooga Audubon Society’s donated archaeological collection. From the latter collection, items of cultural significance were successfully repatriated to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in May of 2025. Lowery is a museum and outdoor educator at the Chattanooga Audubon Society’s main property, Audubon Acres, where she produces educational programs based around nature, history, and archaeology.