Patrick Bentley Cummins has lived in Middle Tennessee since 1993, after relocating to Nashville with his family from his hometown of Berea, Kentucky. Currently employed by Amazon, he is an enrolled member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe based in White Oak, Virginia.
His involvement in preservation began in 1998 with the presidency of the Native American Advocacy organization, the Alliance for Native American Indian Rights of Tennessee. In 2004, he was nominated to a seat on the Tennessee Archaeological Advisory Council, on which he served until 2018.
After attending Middle Tennessee State University as an Anthropology major, in 2005 he was hired as a seasonal Assistant Archaeologist at the Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson. From 2007 until 2009, he worked as a Staff Archaeologist/Supervisor, overseeing the daily operations on the restoration of the 3,500 monuments and burial sites located in the Old Nashville City Cemetery under the supervision of the Metro Historical Commission.
In 2012, he helped to co-found the nonprofit Native History Association, and he continues serve as the organization’s president today. From 2015 to 2017 he served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Aaittafama Park and in 2016-2017, he served as a Commissioner on the Metropolitan Davidson County Historical Commission.