My Berkshire OLLI offering in the Spring 2021 semester. Here is the course description.
I share parts (or sometimes all) of this Land Acknowledgement at the start of each class.
- Session One (March 24)
- Slides
- Mohican History Walking Tour of Stockbridge — links to videos
- A Berkshire Eagle article on Tribal Documents contains several inaccuracies, which were discussed in class.
- My brother Rick provided a more detailed account of the documents, also in the Eagle.
- Session Two (March 31)
- Session Three (April 7)
- No slides; if you missed this enchanting session with Jesse Bruchac (Abenaki), let me know and I will send you a link to the recording.
- Joseph Bruchac books
- Ndakinna Center
- Joseph Laurent (Sozap Lolô) 1881 Abenaki Grammar full text
- Henry Masta 1932 Abenaki Grammar and Place Names full text
- Abenaki Dictionary March 2021
- New Yorker article on the Penobscot language
- Session Four (April 14) Indigenous placenames (toponyms) in the Northeast, especially in the Berkshires and Vermont
- Slides
- Brian Cina, Vermont State Representative, speaking on reviving aboriginal names in Vermont
- Berkshire Eagle article on renaming at Monument Mountain (you heard it here first! in Session One, when Bonney Hartley talked about Peeskwaso).
- Session Five (April 21) Cheryl Savageau (Abenaki) Poetry and Land Use
- Cheryl’s most recent book, Out of the Crazywoods, available from the University of Nebraska. The cover features the quilt she talked about in class.
- Also see About her, and other information on her website.
- Session Six (April 28) Professor Jerry Reid on Mohawk (Haudenosaunee) current issues, with historical background.
- Information on Professor Reid and his presentation (Dr. Reid does not identify as indigenous, although he has worked closely with Native communities, and will present his findings on their perspective.
- Background information on the Mohawks (Kanien’kehá:ka)
- Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address
- Bonus: Yo Yo Ma performing music to honor the indigenous people of Stockbridge and their values, as he explains, starting at 27:30 in the video, to 33:17.
- Another Bonus: an amazing broadcast I heard on the BBC, which describes a society in China that sounds as if it might be the wellspring of Algonkian and Haudenosaunee culture, or perhaps they simply share a common origin.
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