Warm up your Fire & Ice weekend with a journey deep into the region’s history at Native American Heritage & Artifact Day, a free, public event presented by the Talbot Historical Society on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Held right in the heart of downtown Easton during the Fire & Ice Festival, this indoor event will invite families, history lovers, and festival-goers to step inside the Waterfowl Festival Building (40 S. Harrison Street) and explore thousands of years of Native American history—just steps away from ice sculptures, shopping, and winter fun.

The building will be filled with remarkable local artifact collections, displayed alongside the collectors who found them. Stone tools dating from 500 to more than 10,000 years old offer a powerful glimpse into the deep Indigenous history of the Eastern Shore. Many rarely seen Talbot County collections will be on display, including one of the most comprehensive local collections spanning multiple cultures and millennia.

Throughout the day, visitors can experience living history through “Pocomoke Indian Nation: History, Lifeways, and Resources within Their Homelands and Sphere of Influence.” Tradition Bearers of the Pocomoke Indian Nation will share hands-on demonstrations including flint knapping, hide tanning with stone and bone tools, traditional turkey hunting techniques, river cane flute music, and cattail decoy displays.

At 1 p.m., Norris (Buddy) Howard Jr. will present an illustrated lecture, Pocomoke Indian Nation – Past, Present, Future, exploring the Nation’s enduring history and living traditions.

Additional highlights include historic maps and primary documents, information from the Nause-Waiwash Tribe, and a special presentation, Eight Coates, Seven Shirts, Fifteen Fathom Wampum, by Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, citizen and cultural ambassador of the Pocomoke Indian Nation and advocate for living Indigenous history.

Free, family-friendly, and open to the public, Native American Heritage & Artifact Day offers a meaningful way to add depth and discovery to your Fire & Ice weekend—an opportunity to warm up indoors while connecting with the stories that shaped this land long before Easton existed.