For Immediate Release

Media Relations & Tourism Sales Department of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Larry Meehan, Vice President of Media Relations & Tourism Sales, lmeehan@bostonusa.com, 617-867-8231; Joanna Blasi, Media Relations & Tourism Sales Coordinator, jblasi@bostonusa.com, 617-867-8226.

 

October 2007 Edition

 

Click here to view our 2007 Events Calendar: explore! Multicultural Boston

 

 

 

Boston’s Native American Heritage

Month  

November 2007 

Native American Heritage Month offers visitors opportunity to celebrate

culture & heritage

 

Boston & Cambridge has a diverse Native -American heritage

 

·       At the time Europeans began settling in what is now the state of Massachusetts in the late 16th and early 17th century, the land was home to tens of thousands of Native Peoples from many tribes.

·       These included the Pawtucket (or Penacook), the Massachusett, the Pokantoket (or Wampanoag), and several other smaller bands including the Nipmuck and Pocumtuck. To the south, in what is now Rhode Island and Connecticut, there were bands of Pequot-Mohegans, Narragansetts, Western and Eastern Niantic, Quirpi, Tunxis and Podunk Indians. Although it is much disputed exactly how long the ancestors of these peoples had been living in this area, it is generally agreed that some have been here for at least 12,000 years. Indian paths and campsites, located in the 6,500-acre Blue Hills Reservation near Boston, are thought to be approximately 10,000 years old.

·       The metropolitan Boston area is currently home to approximately 5,250 Native Americans, according to the 1990 Census. Typical of urban Native areas, the Boston Indian community is comprised of people from a wide array of tribes, both from New England and the rest of the country. Significant numbers of New England Wabanaki peoples are represented in the population; these are primarily Micmac, but also include Abenaki, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot. There are also many southern New England tribes including Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Narragansett and Mohecan. Overall, more than thirty tribes, bands, and nations are represented.

 

Events

 

Annual Boston/Massachusetts Native -American celebrations & festivals include the extensive series of POW WOW events held between May and October, events at Boston Harbor Islands & Plimoth Plantation.

 
Annual History & Culture Fair, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center Saturday, October 20, 2007
Come and meet fellow antiquarians, including historians, authors, local historical society members, Museum researchers and genealogists, at this special one-day History and Culture Fair. Talk to professionals in various disciplines and share ideas about the transforming events that shaped modern southeastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island. Various scholars, including Robert J. Miller, author of “Native America: Discovered and Conquered,” will be available for discussion and book signing. Many displays and exhibits from participating organizations focus on their respective historical collections and research materials, including genealogical data. The Fair is in the Gathering Space from 10 am to 3 pm and is open to the public free of charge.

 
Scout Workshops Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Saturdays in October & Nov. 3, 10 &17, 2007
These two-hour workshops combine a guided exhibit tour with a fun-filled, hands-on program and are designed for scouts of all ages to help meet badge requirements. The fee of $11 per scout includes museum admission for the day. Workshops offered at 10 am and 1 pm each day in the CL&P Classroom, call (860) 396-6839 to register. Topics to choose from are:

 

Key Boston Native - American attractions

 

·       Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University is one of the oldest museums in the world devoted to anthropology and houses one of the most comprehensive records of human cultural history in the Western Hemisphere..

 

·       The nine-year-old Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center is an important Native American attraction southwest of Boston.The ceremonial groundbreaking for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center took place on Oct. 20, 1993, in a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of federal recognition of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The Museum presents the rich history of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the histories and cultures of other tribes, and the region's natural history. The new facility, opened on August 11, 1998, is located on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, where many members of the Mashantucket Pequot tribal members continue to live. It is one of the oldest, continuously occupied Indian reservations in North America. http://www.pequotmuseum.org/

 

·       The Peabody Museum at Phillips Exeter Academy in North Andover, northwest of Boston The museum's collection contains about 500,000 objects that represent nearly every indigenous culture area in North America. Collections are especially strong in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Arctic areas of North America. The museum also holds significant type collections from the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico and the European Paleolithic. Ethnographic materials, dating from around 1800 to the present, complement the archaeological collections. These include clothing and other textiles, utensils, weaponry, basketry and pottery. The largest collection is North American Indian basketry.

 

Links Native -American Boston

http://www.500nations.com/Massachusetts_Events.asp

http://www.mcnaa.org/cgi-bin/events.cgi?events-0507.dat 

 

Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center http://www.pequotmuseum.org/

 

 

Boston visitor information - from updated weekend event information to special hotel offers  during October Native American Heritage Month visits are available www.BostonUSA.com ; toll free 1-888-SEE-BOSTON; e mail visitus@BostonUSA.com