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PAWPAW & ATLANTIC STURGEONSeptember 2026 | Earth Year Issue 01 HOW CAN A PLANT AND AN ANIMAL REFLECT THE HEALTH OF JAMES RIVER COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT GENERATIONS? Sturgeon Moon in the Pawpaw Grove by Zeb Herod
“”Everything is about the river and the river is woven through everything.“ -Pamunkey community curators Our Lives exhibition, Smithsonian, 2004 CONNECT WITH THE PAWPAW AND ATLANTIC STURGEON ISSUE Pawpaws are rooted in groves along the river bank while sturgeon can swim hundreds of miles out to sea. They appear to have little in common but both are tied deeply to the health of the James River and the lives of those who live along it. A healthy river isn’t just the water. It’s the whole living landscape surrounding it. As communities of people fish and gather with reciprocity, they deepen their connection to the river ecosystem as well. For the Pamunkey, sturgeon were a source of food and income. Because of their abundance and enormous size, tracking their return to spawn has been part of the yearly rhythm for generations. A pawpaw needs the moist floodplain habitat the river creates to thrive. As their fruit ripens at the end of summer, communities enjoy the harvest and prepare for shifting seasons. Both became foodways that connected indigenous communities to the land and to the rhythms of nature. Even without human connection though, pawpaws and sturgeons are intertwined. Sturgeon eggs need clean, hard substrate and well oxygenated water. Pawpaws are part of the living filter of vegetation along rivers that slow sediment run off and keep spawning habitat clean. The floodplain ecosystems they both rely on are part of the heart of the James River region we call home. 2 Check out the JRA State of the James report that tracks important indicators that effect paw paws and sturgeons.
Listen to Robin Wall Kimmerer read about the honorable harvest. 3 THE HONORABLE HARVEST As we set off on a year of learning about plants and animals, let us pause to consider our relationship with them. Do you believe you are a part of nature or do you feel separate from it? How do you interact with it? What is yours to take? What is yours to give? If we desire to harvest plants and animals for food, medicine or materials, how can we do so with respect and reciprocity? These are important questions to consider as we deepen our understanding of the land and ourselves. What does reciprocity for the gifts of the Earth look like? It could look like gratitude, ceremony, tokens or gifts, and land stewardship. It can look like song and stories in champion of the land, gardens, teaching others, and sharing the bounty. You can give back by supporting resistance to the destruction of our natural world or spending your money wisely by not over consuming. Each of us has something special to offer and we are called to give it and rejoice in the exchange! “When we take something from the Earth—be it a berry or wood to build our house—do we pause to ask permission? Do we wait for a response? Do we honor the answer, even—and especially—if it’s “no”? These are not metaphors. They are real, embodied acts of listening.” — Excerpt from a post by the Pachamama Alliance.
Walk along the trails by Reedy Creek, Pony Pasture, or Powhatan State Park and you might notice straight growing trees with broad, elliptical leaves. Pawpaws grow wild across Virginia, but most have never tasted it. So what exactly is a pawpaw and how did such a strange fruit stay under the radar? Have You Tasted Virginia’s Largest Native Fruit? READ: VIRGINIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY: THE CURIOUS PAWPAW 4
PAWPAW IN THE ARTS John James Audubon America, 1785-1851 Burl Ives Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch “Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets, Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch”.
HEAD OFF ON A PAWPAW HUNT Bring: Field Notebook Ruler Colored Pencils Knife Basket Can you find a pawpaw grove? Let your friends know where your secret spot is located. Pull out your Field Notebook and add your observations. 6 Tricks and Tips: “Shake the tree really hard and cover your head” -Isadora “Go in the afternoon and look on the ground” -Zeb “Find a boomerang stick and throw it at bunches of pawpaws” -Walton Field Notebook: What do you notice and wonder about: Leaf - shape, size, arrangement, smell Bark - color and texture Tree - height and growth pattern Habitat - What is around it? Fruit - size, shape, color, smell Seeds - number, size, shape Senses - smell, taste, feel
FALL LINE FOXES GO PAWPAW PICKING Juniper, Lake, and Atlas plan to transplant several pawpaws on their land. It can be hard to transplant pawpaws or grow them from seed because pawpaws prefer to grow from an existing older plant root. They are genetically identical to the plant that sent up a new sucker. Pawpaws grow from a deep tap root. Check out these roots Finn and Joanna helped to dig up! While we were foraging, we found a new to us variety of pawpaw that has white flesh when ripe. Everyone agreed it was even more delicious.
INDIGENOUS FOODWAYS The Shawnee have a pawpaw moon. Haudenosaunee communities mashed the fruit to make small, dried cakes that could be stored for later or used as relish served on cornbread. Pawpaw seeds have been found at historic feasting sites of Creek, Cherokee, and Catawba. Cherokee used the inner bark for rope, string, and lacing. Splints were used for basketry and matting. The wood was used for firestarting for hand drills and fireboards as well as bow and drill. The leaves and stems were used for medicine. Food creates relationships among people, places, seasons, movement, language, and communities . For Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island, pawpaw wasn’t an unusual fruit waiting ot be discovered. It was food. People gathered it when it ripened, ate it fresh, preserved it, carried its seeds cultivated trees, and used other parts of the plant. Archeologists have recovered pawpaw remains from Indigenous sites and stories from tribes today tell their history connected to the pawpaw. Today, Indigenous land stewards, researchers, cooks, and communities are working with pawpaw as part of a much larger movement to continue and reclaim Indigenous foodways and food sovereignty.THE PAWPAW AND 8 Who gets to decide what grows, what we eat, and which food knowledge survives? What happens when people lose access to a food their families have known for generations? Watch: What is Food Sovereignty? Read: Choctaw tribal member Devon Mihesuah’s journey with pawpaws
IF PAWPAWS COULD TALK9 Pawpaws have been part of peoples lives here since before Virginia had its name. Indigenous people gathered, ate, tended, and moved pawpaws across the landscape, and still do! Later, colonists wrote about them, enslaved people foraged for them, explorers survived on them, and generations of families searched the riverbanks for the ripe fruit. Imagine you are a GROVE of pawpaws. While a single pawpaw trunk lives roughly 30-50 years as understory trees, a grove can persist much longer. Pawpaws spread clonally: underground roots send up new suckers. An older trunk dies, while younger genetically identical stems continue growing. So what looks like 50 separate pawpaw trees may actually be one clone continually replacing its above-ground stems. Imagine you are a pawpaw grove beside the James River. Select a long or short period of history to tell the story of what your grove has witnessed as generations of people, and generations of pawpaw stems, come and go. The Library of Congress Pawpaw: The Story of America in One Fruit Colonial Williamsburg Forgotten Fruit Before 1600 1607 1780s 1806 1800s 1861- 1865 Late 1800s- Early 1900s 1900s PAWPAW GROVE OVER TIME Indigenous peoples know, eat, steward, and cultivate pawpaws English colonists rely on pawpaws as part of their diet Explorers Lewis + Clark rdescribe pawpaws during their expedition Enslaved African Americans forage pawpaws and pawpaw groves are part of the information shared along the Underground Railroad George Washington plants pawpaws. Thomas Jefferson records and sends seeds and plants to Europe. During the Civil War, pawpaw is one of the wild food folks rely on Pawpaw appears in books, newspapers, recipes, children’s songs, and contests. With the appearance of grocery stores and long distance food travel, the pawpaw becomes unfamiliar to many. How can you share your story? Create a picture book, comic, stop motion, short story, or podcast Growers, researchers, foragers, and Indigenous communities are renewing interest in the pawpaw as a part of healthy land, local food, and food sovereignty . Today
A deer walks past pawpaw leaves. A zebra swallowtail caterpillar devours them. A person happily eats the fruit, but another person may get sick. What’s going on? Pawpaws make unusual chemicals called acetogenins. Most leaf-eaters avoid them, but the zebra swallowtail has turned the pawpaw’s defense to its own advantage. Pawpaw is a great example of how the same plant chemistry can affect animals in very different ways. TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT? the pawpaw’s suprising chemical defense 10 Dig deeper into the relationship between the pawpaw and Zebra Swallowtail Zebra swallowtail caterpillars are strict specialists. That means that they feed only on one plant, the pawpaw tree. The chemical called acetogenins in pawpaws make them have an unplesant taste to predators like birds. Instead of avoiding the plant like deer, their bodies are able to use the chemical to create their own defense from predators. Photographs by Sara Bright How do acetogenins impact humans? Ripe pawpaw fruit is a tasty food most people can enjoy without trouble. For some people, pawpaw acetogenins give them an upset stomach or skin irritation. Some who can enjoy them raw can’t when they are baked. Scientists don’t fully understand why different people experience different reactions to acetogenins. Read about how this same chemical is being used in cancer research
Put all ingredients in blender starting with coconut milk Blend on frozen desert setting or blend using the tamper frequently Enjoy! Prickly Paw Paw Smoothie 11 Watch: PBS The Farmer and the Foodie: Pawpaws PAWPAW RECIPES Paw Paw Cream Cheese Frosting Chocolate Pudding Popsicles The Best Paw Paw Contest and Nutrition 1 cup frozen pawpaw 1 cup frozen mango or strawberry 1 teaspoon vanilla ¼ cup coconut milk 3 tablespoons honey pinch salt Cheesecake Bites
What happens when something is turned into a supermarket crop? Visit Michael Judd and learn more about large scale pawpaw stewardship. 12 COULD VIRGINIA SELL PAWPAWS OVER THE GLOBE? WildFed Podcast: Pawpaw an American Treasure Check out his pawpaw patch and learn about cultivars Invent a Virginia Pawpaw Company Virginia Tech says ripe pawpaws only last about 3 days at room temperature and bruise readily. How could you get a pawpaw to California? Where and how will you tend the crop of pawpaws? How will you store and ship your product? Design logo, advertising, mascot, packaging, and labels for customers. How will you prevent bruising? REFLECT Dig Deeper with Michael Judd: For the Love of Pawpaws How are pawpaws similar and different to fruits you find in the grocery store? Are any of the other fruits in the Annonaceae family being grown commercially? 14
FROM FLLC FIELD NOTEBOOKS How do you use your field notebook to connect with the plants and animals around you? “I’ve been looking for ducks and counting them. I am curious how it changes.” -Walton “I go out in the woods and see cool mushrooms.” -Zeb “I find one small thing and look at it really hard.” -Isadora Try a new way to use your field notebook or phenology journal “I have loved the videos by John Muir Laws and thinking about how to find patterns and numbers in what I am seeing.” -Joy
Something enormous is swimming beneath the tidal zones of the James River. The Atlantic sturgeon can grow longer than a car, wears rows of bony armor, travels hundreds of miles through the Atlantic, and somehow finds its way back to the Virginia river where it began life. This river giant is full of mysteries that make tracking its return each fall an exciting way to mark the shifting seasons. WHAT JUST JUMPED OUT OF THE JAMES? 14 Ayelu Mason’s The Sturgeon of Steel Ascends Use this Atlantic Sturgeon Fact sheet to learn more. Create a life size Atlantic sturgeon with chalk, cardboard, or butcher paper. How can you illustrate the different parts of a sturgeon? PBS The Good Road Richmond, VA “Holy River” Conservationists on the James River work to protect the Atlantic Sturgeon
What is the difference between fresh water and salt water? Did you know that some species are anadromous, or able to live in both? Atlantic sturgeon hatch in coarse, rocky riverbeds of freshwater rivers and tributaries. A healthy sturgeon nursery includes fresh water, good dissolved oxygen, moving water, and most importantly a clean, hard bottom. Eggs need rock, gravel, and cobble to stay in place until they hatch. Virginia researchers use sonar to map the bottom of the James River to ensure that vegetation along the shore is continuing to block too much sediment from flowing into rivers and covering the rock. With more construction along rivers yearly, the James River Association is experimenting with artificial spawning reefs that could replace lost hard-bottom habitat. Other anadromous species that migrate from the ocean to freshwater to spawn include salmon, steelhead, and striped bass. 15 HOW CAN A FISH LIVE IN BOTH THE JAMES RIVER AND THE ATLANTIC OCEAN? Photo by Ryan Haggerty/USFWS After hatching, young fish gradually move down river into brackish water and eventually the ocean. After spending 2 to 6 years in the ocean, sturgeon return to their natal river, the river where they hatched, to spawn. A healthy Atlantic Sturgeon may repeat this giant journey 12 times during their lifetime. How do sturgeon find their way back to their home river after they have spent years in the ocean over 1,300 kilometers away? Read or Watch: Tale of a Great White Fish by Maggie de Vries
SPLASH!Virginia’s Giant Flying Fish Atlantic sturgeon are famous for flingling themselves clear of water, a behavior called breaching. Every late summer, these enormous fish return to the James to spawn and communities all along the tidal zones of the river can watch them leap. Headwaters Down: A Sturgeon Story: Searching For Giant Leaping Dinosaur FishPhotograph by Rob Sabatini 16 Why would a fish spend so much energy jumping out of the water? There are several hypotheses but no definite answer. Unlike bony fish, sturgeon have an open connection between their digestive tract and swim bladder. Are they jumping to gulp air and control buoyancy? Researchers have also proposed that the enormous SMACK! when a sturgeon lands could be for communication. Do they want others to know they are ready to spawn? Breaching can last for less than a second, but if you are lucky you can see it for yourself. Check out where to find spawning sturgeon in the James Can you identify these other animals that breach? A B C D E Find the answers on page 25
17 Living Fossils Sturgeon are nicknamed “living fossils” because their species has been around since the time dinosaurs were alive. Check out the adaptations that have helped them be so resilient! Barbels: sensory organs that can detect movement and chemical signals from prey in murky water. Scutes: Five rows of bony plates act as armor protecting them from debris and large predators. Cartilaginous skeleton: ancient species had bony skeletons but over time they evolved to have a mostly cartilage. This helps them be more flexible and lighter so they use less energy when swimming long distances. Ventral mouth: allows for feeding along the bottom of the water without having to alter swimming position. Sturgeon also have protrusible mouths which allows their jaw to quickly open downwards. This creates a suction effect and lets them suck up their food quickly. No teeth! No scales!
Sturgeon drawing by Pamunkey Indian Tribe member, Kirk Moore Imagine a fish longer than your dad is tall and strong enough to pull you through the river. For generations, Atlantic sturgeon were food, income, and part of life along the Pamunkey River. Pamunkey tribal elders remember enormous sturgeon being hauled home, their roe prepared for caviar, and stories of young men catching and riding sturgeon as a rite of passage. Today, Pamunkey people are helping scientists tag, track, and protect the same endangered fish. Design a fishing system that lets fish enter at high tide but makes them easier to capture when the water falls? How Do You Catch A River Giant? PBS Connecting Currents The Pamunkey River - Lifeblood of Our Tribe What knowledge would you need to catch an animal this powerful without modern equipment? Did you consider: tides – currents – seasons – fish behavior – knots – materials – where sturgeon surface? What topic do you need to know more about? 18 After you design your system, learn more about how Pamunkey tribes lived alongside sturgeon for generations and are protecting them today. Read: Catching Sturgeon
Photograph by Will Parson Pamunkey Tribal Hatchery “What You Take From the River, You Must Return”-Pamunkey Indian Tribe Government One of the main staples of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe diet for generations has been fish, specifically shad and herring. Members of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe also bartered these fish, making them an integral part of their economy. In 1918, the Pamunkey tribe started an indoor fish hatchery to live out the principals of their philosophy that if you took fish from the water, you should put some back. The original hatchery had an 800 gallon holding tank, gas-powered motor, hatching jars, and holding tanks that could use gravity to release eggs back into the Pamunkey River as soon as they hatched. After over a century of operation, the hatchery has shifted and now includes tagging alongside shad and sturgeon scientists, a spawning and incubation program for shad, and brine shrimp hatching tanks. 19 Read: Endangered Sturgeon Get Help From Pamunkey Indian Tribe in Virginia Spend some time listening to the stories from Pamunkey Tribal members. Under “2. Culture & Community”, find sturgeon and fishing connections
Atlantic Sturgeon thrived in Virginia rivers for centuries. As more and more settlers began to arrive, commercial fishing caused populations to begin to decline. Meat was eaten fresh, smoked, and pickled Sturgeon on the James was even nicknamed “Charles City Bacon”. Then in the late 1800s, demand for sturgeon eggs exploded leading to what was called the “Black Gold Rush” and a dramatic population collapse. HOW DOES AN 800 POUND FISH ALMOST DISAPPEAR? 20 The 1900s brought land clearing, urban population sewage, and industrial runoff which all decimated sturgeon river spawning grounds. By the 1920s, Atlantic Sturgeon were considered ghosts and rarely seen. The last 50 years has brought regulations, fishing bans, The Clean Water Act, and Chesapeake Bay restoration agreements allowing the endangered sturgeon to begin to make a comeback. Ghosts No More
Although Atlantic Sturgeon are being protected in many ways, there are still threats against them. The most significant threats to Atlantic sturgeon are unintended catch in some commercial fisheries, dams that block access to spawning areas, poor water quality, dredging of spawning areas, vessel strikes, habitat degradation, and changing environmental conditions. 21 Watch: Restoring the Ancient Sturgeon Design a Sturgeon Story Board Game Paint over a board game from the thrift store or use carboard or poster board Think about the route the players will take. It can be a free form route like Life or a square style route like Chutes and Ladders. Find a dice and create pawns. Illustrate the backgroung of the route so that you begin in the river at a healthy rocky spawning ground, travel out the river to the Chesapeake Bay, move to the Atlantic Ocean, and then travel to the end of the route which looks like the same rocky spawning ground. Find a way to have threats and supports. These could be chance cards or spaces written on the board that move you forward for things that could help sturgeons migrate or move you backwards for dangers and threats. 23
Science is a system of testable knowledge that gives us information about how things operate. Science is not the same thing as a fact. New people study things using different methods and technology allows researchers to look from new angles. Because we are always learning, what scientists think changes, and what we believe to be true about how the earth operates can change. Researchers traditionally associated Atlantic Sturgeon with spring spawning. Then VCU researcher Matt Valazik started closely following James River sturgeon. From 2009- 2011 researchers captured 125 adults during the fall sampling period and none during spring sampling period. Tracking showed mature fish entering in August and leaving by late November. Because of Dr. Balazik’s work, what we know about sturgeons changed completely. CHANGING SCIENCE 22 How do you follow a fish you can’t see? Sturgeon researchers need to study the fish over time as they migrate. Researchers implant sturgeon with acoustic transmitters. The tag periodically makes an underwater electronic PING. Researchers positioned along rivers and the coast detect tagged animals swimming past. Scientists can reconstruct where individual sturgeon travel. VCU combines acoustic technology with sonar, drones and other technologies to understand movement and habitat. Photo of Matt Valazik by Jamie Brunkow It takes more than one kind of person to understand a mysterious migratory fish. Read that last paragraph again and think about how many different types of skills are needed to study sturgeon. How many different types of specialists do you think are involded? Watch: Uncommon Heros - Dr. Balazik is helping restore the Atlantic Sturgeon
Keith Ramsey Augusta The Sturgeon STURGEON IN THE ARTS FLLC visited Keith Ramsey and Augusta the Sturgeon in 2025 Visit Augusta and 2 other sturgeon sculptures created by Virginia artists along the Appomattox River Trail “Whatever is put into the environment, whether by industry or individual, will find its way into the wildlife. You may not see it on the outside, but it’s always there” - Keith RamseyWatch Ramsey share the process of creating August and talk about his inspiration. Answers for animals that breach on page 18 A: Humpback Whale B: Spinner Dolphin. C: Tarpon. D: Great White Shark. E. Manta Ray 25
Families gather beside the lake before setting out for the afternoon. 24 COMING SOON OCTOBER ISSUE: WHITE OAK TREE + EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL