Author and Anthropologist Helen Rountree uses her many years of scientific and historic research to describe how natives of the Virginia piedmont region made use of their environment for food, transportation, and shelter. Professor Rountree argues that the Powhatan indian women’s brains were like computers because of their detailed knowledge of hundreds of useful plants. The presentation is part of the "From the Earth: The Environment in Virginia's Past and Future" conference at the Virginia Historical Society.