Sacred Landscapes and Sacred Memories - presentation

“Sacred Landscapes and Sacred Memories”, presented by Pamela Ellis,J.D., and Rae Gould, Ph.D., of the Nipmuc Indian Nation, on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 7:00pm at the Littleton High School Auditorium and Performance Center at 56 King Street.
Free and open to all.

Native Americans were subjected to the Puritan vision of how “Indians” should conduct their lives in accordance with traditional English practices. They were converted to Christianity and relocated to a series of Praying Villages, starting in 1651 with Natick, followed by thirteen others, including Hassanamesit (third site in present day Grafton) and Nashoba (sixth site in present day Littleton).

This presentation offers a historical focus on the nature of early Colonial Native settlements and praying villages from the Nipmuc perspective, using Hassanamesit as an example. Hassanamesit will be examined in its role beyond that period through the 19th and 20th centuries. The land forming Hassanamesit Village has passed through the Nipmuc Cisco family and now is the Hassanamisco Reservation of the Nipmuc tribe, never passing out of Native American ownership.

Pamela Ellis, J.D. is the Tribal Historian/Genealogist and Cultural Resources Officer for the Natick Nipmuc Indian Council. Her legal practice specializes in Indian Affairs.

Rae Gould, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Anthropology, is the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and has additionally served as Tribal Researcher, Archivist, and Archaeologist, with a prime focus on Hassanamesit.

This program is provided by the Dr. Ed Bell Forum, an endowed public education seminar series sponsored by the Littleton Conservation Trust, and is supported in part by a grant from the Littleton Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.