It’s a little known fact that George Washington chopped down more than one cherry tree, according to Jack Rossen, associate professor and chair of the anthropology department.

In 1779, General John Sullivan was ordered by Washington to destroy the Hodenosaunee, or Iroquois, for their loyalty to the British. The campaign destroyed 43 communities, including Peachtown, a Cayuga Indian village located 30 miles north of Ithaca, known for its 1,500 peach, apple and cherry trees.

Jessica Villeneuve ’05, who studied anthropology at Ithaca College, spent her senior year bringing Sullivan’s Campaign and other American Indian stories to the exhibit “Uncovering the Past” at the Ithaca History Center. Using Peachtown and other destroyed villages in “Village X,” the exhibit introduces viewers to archeological research and the rich heritage of Native Cayuga Indians.

“For any person that’s ever worked at a museum, it’s their ultimate dream to design their own exhibit,” said Villeneuve, who lives in Burlington, Vt.

Rossen worked with Villeneuve on the archeological digs — many of which were in the village’s trash heap — and donated the pictures and artifacts displayed in the exhibit. With the help of Scott Goldman ’05 and Mari Shopsis, former coordinator of education at the History Center, Villeneuve designed the exhibit.

“Uncovering the Past” provides a full hour of enjoyment, said Kelly Calnon Falck, director of education and public programming at the History Center. A small sandbox in the corner is filled with archeological tools and kids looking for “artifacts” — old, dull nails; white and blue porcelain and old, rusty belt buckles buried beneath sandy dirt.

“Our goal was to make the exhibit easy for kids and families to digest,” Falck said.

An important part of designing the exhibit was having the local Cayuga’s blessing, Villeneuve said.

“You can understand that for hundreds of years museums have done nothing but put Native Americans on display in a way that doesn’t let [them] tell their own story,” Villeneuve said. “When we decided to open the [exhibit], we presented it to a few clan mothers to make sure they were OK with all the content.”

Villeneuve will use her experiences to give high school students a complete history of American Indian culture, rather than the incomprehensive lessons she said she believes are often taught in schools across the country.

“I hope to teach history different[ly] from the text,” she said. “[Currently,] you learn that Native Americans were affected but not how — the race of people that were lost and how they live today.”