Werowocomoco, a new national park being developed in Gloucester County, is the subject of a short film released last week by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Chesapeake Conservancy.

“Werowocomoco: Protecting a Powhatan Place of Power,” premiered at the Virginia Film Festival on Nov. 1 and won the Commonwealth Award for Best Virginia Short Film, said a press release from the NPS. The film is also entered in the upcoming Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival in Richmond.

More than 400 years before English settlers established Jamestown, Werowocomoco was an important Powhatan Indian town, said the release. Werowocomoco, translated from the Virginia Algonquian language, means “place of leadership.” An archaeological site now under the permanent protection of the National Park Service, Werowocomoco is not yet open to the public until planning is completed with American Indian tribes who hold the site as sacred.

“Werowocomoco is a powerful and sa...