PETERSHAM – The first recorded contact between the Nipmucs and English settlers occurred in 1630, but the existence of the tribe likely predates written history.
On Sunday, the Nipmuc Cultural Celebration was held to commemorate their centuries-long presence in and around North Quabbin in Petersham. The event was organized by Nipmuc Cultural Preservation, Inc., in collaboration with Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, and featured musical performances, storytelling, dance and photography on the site once occupied by the Nichewaug Inn and Academy on Petersham Common.
Nipmuc Cultural Preservation board member Fred Freeman was manning one of the tents, sitting at a table where a dozen or so books on the history of Indigenous people in North Quabbin and New England were on display.
Asked about the goal of the event, Freeman said, “We steward some land here in Petersham – in Nichewaug – and we talk about land preservation and conservation and a number of different things. And it came up that we might want to do a celebration to tell folks around the area that the Nipmucs are in fact still here. We have not died out. Our ancestors had kids just like anyone else and that community still exists.”
Most people in North Quabbin, Freeman said, know very little about the existence of the Nipmucs, either before or since the arrival of the Europeans.
“To most people, the beginning of America begins with their family arriving in America,” he said. “They know very little about who was here before that. People get busy with their lives, and it’s not something that’s really taught in school or gone into for a whole lot of reasons- both good and bad. So I think it’s something I don’t think the general public is aware of.”
A similar celebration was held in Petersham two years ago. Freeman said the idea of making it an annual event is being considered.
“When you do things all the time, sometimes they become a little bit boring or monotonous,” he added. “But I think every now and then it’s good to come out and remind folks of the history of the area that they may not have known.”
Also on hand for the celebration was an organization called No Loose Braids. The organization, said Creative Director Andre Strongbearheart Gaines, Jr., “is a non-profit that focuses on cultural revitalization and preservation. The reason we have to work on this every day is so that our culture doesn’t get diminished. There was no sign of the Nipmuc people here for a lot of years after it was colonized a few hundred years back. But we’re in a place now where we’re really putting our footprints back down in this place.”
In addition to spending time at the No Loose Braids table, Gaines also lead a social dance, encouraging audience participation.
“We’re doing 4,000-year-old songs and dances,” he said.
While the organization is only two years old, Gaines said he’s been working for 17 years to preserve and promote Nipmuc culture in the region.
Project Mishoon was also represented at Sunday’s event. A mishoon is a dugout canoe fashioned from a large tree and was used by the Nipmuc primarily on lakes and ponds. In 2001, a mishoon was discovered in Worcester’s Lake Quinsigamond. Since that time, according to the group’s literature, two more have been discovered nearby.
“The Nipmuc People,” reads a promotional pamphlet, “hope to excavate and conserve these valuable artifacts to perpetuate its history and to educate future generations.”
Pages for Nipmuc Cultural Preservation and Project Mishoon can be found on Facebook. No Loose Braids can be reached at www.noloosebraids.com.
Greg Vine can be reached at [email protected].
