>>> DAVID BRULE SAID HE HAS OFTEN HEARD FROM FELLOW NATIVE
AMERICANS WHO SAY THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACCESS THEIR
CULTURE.
THE NOLUMBEKA PROJECT WAS LAUNCHED TO HELP CONNECT
EVERYONE, NOT JUST NATIVE AMERICANS, WITH NATIVE CULTURE.
AND THIS YEAR, THE GREENFIELD-BASED ORGANIZATION IS
EXPANDING ITS PROGRAMMING.
I SPOKE WITH BROOL AND LIZ COLDWIND SANTANA KISER FOR
DETAILS.
>> THE WORD REACHED US THAT THE COASTAL PEOPLE WERE GOING TO BE
HAVING A GREAT CELEBRATION CALLED PLYMOUTH 400.
LIZ AND I WORK ON AN ADVISORY BOARD THAT HAS BEEN STUDYING THE
EVENTS AT THE FALLS ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AT TURNER'S
FALLS FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS NOW. AND WE HAVE GAINED A WHOLE LOT
OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE RIVER AND CERTAINLY, I HAVE OF OUR TRIBAL
ALLIES.
WE SAID, LET'S PROVIDE A COUNTERBALANCE TO WHAT IS GOING
ON ON THE COAST.
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF WHITE SETTLERS, THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS
IMPACT ON NATIVE PEOPLE ON THE RIVER IN THE WESTERN PART OF
WHAT IS NOW MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT.
SO THAT IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED OUT.
WE THOUGHT WE WOULD, ESPECIALLY THROUGH NOLUMBEKA PROJECT, WE
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HAVING EVENTS ALL DURING THE YEAR FEATURING
NATIVE ARTISTS AND ARTISANS AND MUSIC.
WE SAID, LET'S DO IT IN 2020 AND HAVE SOME KIND OF A FURTHER
DEMONSTRATION OF THE PERSISTENCE OF TRIBAL CULTURES IN OUR
VALLEY.
>> AND WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING IS A YEAR -- 12 EVENTS OVER A
SERIES OF SEVERAL MONTHS, INCLUDING A KICKOFF ON FEBRUARY
1.
>> MM-HMM.
>> LIZ, WHY WAS THIS AN IMPORTANT PROJECT FOR YOU TO
LEND YOUR TIME TO?
>> IT IS AN IMPORTANT TIME BECAUSE A LOT OF OUR PEOPLE
LIVED IN THE AREA AT THE TIME.
IT IS A CHANCE TO LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY THAT WE DON'T KNOW
ABOUT, WHAT HAPPENED THERE AND SHARE WITH OUR TRIBE AND OTHER
TRIBES AS WELL.
IT'S A LEARNING PROCESS FOR US AGAIN.
WE'RE FINDING OUT THINGS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN TOLD TO US OR
TAUGHT TO OUR CHILDREN, SO IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO GET
THIS INFORMATION AND TO BE ABLE TO SHARE IT WITH OUR FOLKS AS
WELL AS SOME OF THE OTHER TRIBES.
>> SPEAKING OF INFORMATION, THERE IS A GRANT RECENTLY
RECEIVED BY THE FIVE COLLEGES THAT IS GOING TO -- YOU MAY HAVE
HEARD OF IT, THAT IS GOING TO HELP THEM LAUNCH A NATIVE AND
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE STUDIES PROGRAMS.
$2.5 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS.
IF YOU WERE SPEAKING TO THE PEOPLE AT FIVE COLLEGES, WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY TO THEM THIS NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT IN THIS CURRICULUM?
>> RIGHT.
WELL, CERTAINLY WE'VE GOT FIVE YEARS WORTH OF PROFESSIONALLY
RESEARCHED AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL, ARCHEOLOGICAL MATERIAL ABOUT
THIS WAR THAT HAPPENED ALMOST 350 YEARS AGO, BUT HAS CONTINUED
TO HAVE IMPACTS ON TRIBAL PEOPLE EVER SINCE.
THAT WAS WHAT, I THINK, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, THAT IS
WHAT I WOULD LOVE THEM TO BE ABLE TO TAP INTO.
THE OTHER THING, PICKING UP WHAT LIZ WAS MENTIONING, WHEN WE
FIRST BEGAN THIS STUDY AND THE ITMAK PEOPLE WERE PART OF OUR
RESEARCH TEAM, IT WAS RATHER HEART WRENCHING BECAUSE THEY, AS
LIZ POINTED OUT, THEY DEPARTMENT KNOW THE STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED
AND THE INCREDIBLE REPRESSION THAT OCCURRED FOR YEARS
AFTERWARD, AFTER THAT 1675 EVENT.
SO, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH THE TRIBAL PEOPLE ARE LEARNING PART
OF THE HISTORY THAT WAS SUPPRESSED AND PUT AWAY --
>> I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK, WAS IT PUT AWAY BECAUSE IT WASN'T
TAUGHT FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION OR IS IT A VICTIM OF
REVISIONIST HISTORY?
>> IF I CAN SPEAK ON THAT?
OUR HISTORY HAS ALWAYS BEEN SUPPR
SUPPRESSEDED . I HAVE LEARNED EUROPEAN HISTORY
ALL MY LIFE BUT THEY HAVE NEVER TAUGHT US ABOUT NATIVE PEOPLE.
DOING A LOT OF THE WORK WITH DAVID AND THE OTHER FOLKS, I
WOULD LIKE TO SEE A CURRICULUM ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT TEACHES
US ABOUT OUR HISTORY.
IT IS A BAD HISTORY.
I MEAN, BAD THINGS HAPPENED, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT, IT NEEDS
TO BE TOLD.
I THINK IF WE COULD HEAR ABOUT ALL THE OTHER WARS WE ARE TAUGHT
ABOUT THE EUROPEANS, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE TAUGHT ABOUT THE
THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO US, THE MASSACRES AND WARS THAT HAPPENED
HERE.
>> EACH OF YOU ARE MEMBERS OF TRIBAL COUNCILS.
TELL US THE TRIBE YOU REPRESENT AND THE ROLE THE COUNCIL PLAYS.
>> WELL, I'M A REPRESENTATIVE OF A TRIBE THAT WAS DECLARED
EXTINCT ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
AND SO MANY TRIBES IN THE NORTHEAST, BUT ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, ARE KIND OF ON A SPECTRUM OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY
ARE OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED.
SO WE, IN A NUTSHELL, MY NAHANTIK INDIAN TRIBE, HAD ITS
ORIGINS AND STILL DOES IN THE VICINITY OF THE MOUTH OF THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER.
WHICH IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE ARE ENDING UP THIS WHOLE
YEARLONG CELEBRATION IN MY HOMELANDS, IN OUR HOMELANDS.
WHAT BASICALLY OCCURRED WAS THROUGH THE RESERVATION EFFORTS
LAUNCHED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON TO BASICALLY PUT INDIANS IN A PLACE
WHERE THEY WOULD PROBABLY NOT SURVIVE, MY ANCESTORS HAD TO
LEAVE THE RESERVATION IN LIME, CONNECTICUT, AND COME UP THE
RIVER.
I'M LUCKY BECAUSE THEY STAYED IN THE RIVER VALLEY AND ONLY WENT
AS FAR AS DEERFIELD.
BUT WHEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT DECLARED MY TRIBAL
PEOPLE BASICALLY THE TRIBE EXTINCT, NO ONE CHECKED WITH MY
GREAT GRANDFATHER TO SEE IF HE WAS STILL EXTINCT OR NOT.
AND SO MANY OF US HAVE COME TOGETHER OVER THE LAST DECADE TO
BRING BACK OUR TRIBAL PRACTICES AND HISTORY AND CULTURES.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE I'M COMING FROM.
THE NIHANTIK INDIAN TRIBE IS BASICALLY CENTERED ALONG THE
COAST, IN CONNECTION WITH THE NARAGANSET
>> I'M A NITMUK.
WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOREVER.
ONE OF THE THINGS WHEN HE WAS MENTIONING ABOUT BEING EXTINCT,
EVERY TIME THEY WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT SOMEONE DYING THAT WAS A
NITMUK, IT WAS ALWAYS THE LAST OF THE NITMUKS.
WE KNOW WHO WE ARE.
WE HAVE AN ORAL HISTORY.
WE ARE TRYING TO WRITE IT DOWN BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE DONE IN
THE PAST.
FOR ME, BEING PART OF THE TRIBE AND THE COUNCIL, BECAUSE I DO
SIT ON THE COUNCIL, IS BEING ABLE TO GIVE BACK TO OUR PEOPLE
HISTORY, HEALTH, DIFFERENT KIND OF GATHERINGS THAT WE HAVE.
WE HAVE OUR WINTER GATHERING COMING UP IN FEBRUARY.
SO THIS IS A TIME WHERE WE WILL GET TOGETHER, WE WILL TELL
STORES, WE WILL DO DRAFT DEMONSTRATIONS, WE WILL SING, WE
WILL DANCE, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND
YOUNGER KIDS THERE, WE WILL BRING IN THE YOUNGER KIDS TO
TALK ABOUT WHAT IS IT TO BE A NITMUK, ARE YOU A NITMUK?
HOW DID YOU BECOME A NITMUK?
THESE ARE QUESTIONS KIDS HAVE TO ASK US, WE ARE ABLE AS A TRIBE,
STILL EXISTS, DO OUR TRADITIONS AND OUR CULTURE IS STILL OURS,
WE SHARE THAT WITH EACH OTHER.
>> ONE OF THE WAYS YOU ARE SHARING WITH THE LARGER SOCIETY
IS THIS NOLUMBEKA PROJECT.
NOLUMBEKA MEANS A STRETCH OF QUIET WATER BETWEEN TWO RAPIDS.
WHY DID YOU WANT TO NAME YOUR PROJECT AFTER THAT BEAUTIFUL
WORD?
>> WELL, I THINK IT KIND OF FITS OUR ROLE.
THE NOLUMBEKA PROJECT IS BASICALLY NON-TRIBAL.
WE ARE NOT CLAIMING TO BE A TRIBE, OF COURSE.
WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION, A NON-PROFIT.
OUR MAJOR ROLE IS EDUCATION, BUT WE PASS THROUGH.
WE HAVE GIFTED GRANT WRITERS, DIANE DICKS, WITH WHOM YOU HAVE
BEEN IN CONTACT WHO IS THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR GROUP.
WE FIND FUNDS, THEY PASS THROUGH US AND WE CONTACT PEOPLE LIKE
LIZ TO DO PRESENTATIONS AND SO IT'S REALLY A QUESTION, I THINK,
IT KIND OF IS VERY APPROPRIATE TO BE CALLED THE CALM STRETCH OF
WATER.
BECAUSE WE ARE TAKING, WE ARE FINDING WAYS TO FUND IN ONE AREA
AND BRINGING THEM OVER TO THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO COULD REALLY
BENEFIT FROM IT.
>> I KNOW YOU HAVE YOUR KICKOFF EVENT ON FEBRUARY 1.
IF SOMEONE WERE TO ATTEND, WHAT COULD THEY EXPECT?
>> IT IS GOING TO BE AT GREENFIELD COMMUNITY COLLEGE,
WHICH HAS BEEN A HUGE SPONSOR, ALONG WITH THE SAVINGS BANKS AND
CULTURAL COUNCILS.
ESSENTIALLY, WE HAVE TWO NATIVE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE LEADING THE
DANCES AND TEACHING THE DANCES, ANWON WEEDEN, AN INCREDIBLY WELL
KNOWN PERSON IN NATIVE CIRCLE.
HE IS A STRIKING INDIVIDUAL, YOUNG MAN WHO HAS ACTUALLY
PLAYED A NUMBER OF ROLES IN FILMS, PARTICULARLY ONE CALLED
"WE ARE STILL HERE."
AND JAMES MAURICE, WHO IS A WOMPANAWAK PERSON.
THEY WILL BE TEACHING DANCES.
A SOCIAL DANCE AND SO EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
PEOPLE WHO ARE NON-TRIBAL WILL GET A CHANCE TO LEARN SOME OF
THE DANCES DONE AT POW WOWS, ET CETERA.
SO THAT WILL BE GOING ON ALL AFTERNOON ON FEBRUARY 1, 1:00 TO
4:00 AT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN GREENFIELD.