Event

Abenaki Heritage Weekend June 29-30 at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Connects Heritage, Health, and Wellness

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2024 Abenaki Heritage Weekend

On June 29-30 citizens of the American Abenaki community will gather at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vermont to celebrate their history and heritage, and all are welcome! Organized by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, this free, family-friendly event is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

Throughout the weekend there will be activities for all ages. Children and adults alike should not miss storytelling and book-signing by celebrated Abenaki author, musician and historian Joseph Bruchac on Saturday. All weekend, bring a picnic lunch. Enjoy singing and drumming by the Nulhegan Drum. A table hosted by the Abenaki Toddler Group welcomes families to stop by for storytelling, drumming, and free children’s books. Visitors can also participate in animal-tracking games and visit the “make and take” table.

Inspired by our three-year Storytelling Project, the VAAA’s Waolowzi Health and Wellness committee encourages the healing that is possible through community projects connecting with cultural heritage, arts, and education. VAAA has partnered with Abenaki Health and Heritage Inc. and Haven Heritage Productions to publish Always Coming Home, a graphic novel about an Abenaki family in the 1880s.

A new special exhibit, Deep Roots, Strong Branches, will open during Heritage Weekend in the Schoolhouse Gallery, and will be on view all season. “Abenaki culture is a complex network of people, places, relationships and ceremony that links the people with the living land,” says curator Vera Sheehan. “For this exhibit we have selected artwork and stories by contemporary American Abenaki artists that illustrate the resilience of the region’s Indigenous people.”

One of the highlights is the Native Arts Marketplace of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, where visitors can talk to artists, watch craft demonstrations, and purchase outstanding beadwork, paintings, jewelry, wampum, woodwork, leatherwork, drums, and other items. “The variety and quality of the work created by our Abenaki artists is outstanding,” said Vera Sheehan, Executive Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. If you are looking to purchase a special gift or something new for your collection, be sure to visit the Native Arts Marketplace.”

VAAA’s Waolowzi Health and Wellness committee has partnered with the Open Door Clinic and Vermont Department of Health to host a pop-up clinic on site all weekend offering check-ups, referrals, and advice.

The Abenaki Heritage Weekend is organized in partnership with the Abenaki Arts & Education Center. Special thanks to Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for hosting this annual celebration since 2007, and the Vermont Department of Health for their support.

For more information on Abenaki Heritage Weekend, visit: AbenakiArt.org/abenaki-heritage-weekend.

June 29-30 – Abenaki Heritage Weekend. At Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT

Vermont Biz News Release

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Speaker Series Shares Indigenous and Scientific Views of American Abenaki Heritage, March 7 & 22

Two-eyed Seeing Speaker Series poster with information about the presentations.

In March, Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA) is pleased to present the 2023 Two-Eyed Seeing Speaker Series. The term “Two-Eyed seeing,” coined by Mi’kmaw Nation Elder Albert Marshall, describes the experience of seeing the strength of Indigenous knowledge with one eye and the strength of Western knowledge with the other. Series speakers will share perspectives on community relationships to regional waterways, including archaeology, ecology, advocacy, Western and Indigenous science, and more. All programs in the Two-Eyed Seeing Speaker Series are presented on Zoom, thanks to support from . . . Click here to read more

WCAX CBS 3 News

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Speaker series shares views of American Abenaki heritage

Screenshot of WCAX3 Speaker Series YouTube video.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Local Abenaki artists are encouraging people to open their minds to different perspectives.

The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association in February and March is presenting the “Two-Eyed Seeing” speaker series, Vera Longtoe Sheehan, director of the VAAA says two-eyed seeing is a way of viewing the world from both an indigenous and western perspective. She says the goal of the series is to help folks see the bigger picture.

“I’m hoping everyone comes away with this idea that we have this amazing world and so many different types of people and to bring diverse perspectives to the way we look at archaeology . . . read more

Article in The Montpelier Bridge: Two-Eyed Seeing: Abenaki Speaker Series

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Darlene Kascak and Vera Longtoe Sheehan at the American Institute for Native American Studies.
Left, Darlene Kascak (Schaghticoke Tribal Nation), Education Director of the Institute for American Indian Studies and Traditional Native American Storyteller, with Vera Longtoe Sheehan (Elnu Abenaki Tribe), Executive Director, Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and Abenaki Arts and Education Center, in the IAIS exhibit gallery with Nebizun: Water is Life. Photo courtesy of the Institute for American Indian Studies.

In honor of World Water Day on March 22, the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA) is presenting “Kwanitekw (Connecticut River): The Sustainer of Life.” The event is the third in the organization’s “Two-Eyed Speaker Series” that started Feb. 21. The term “Two-Eyed Seeing,” was coined by Mi’kmaw Nation Elder Albert Marshall, Vermont Abenaki Artists Association Director Vera Longtoe Sheehan said in an email to The Bridge. “As Marshall explains, “Etuaptmumk — Two-Eyed Seeing . . . refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges . . . read more

Events & News

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Vermont Abenaki Artists Association provides exhibiting artist members with the opportunity to have their work judged by esteemed arts professionals, and to exhibit their work in museum exhibits. Abenaki artists produce and participate in many cultural events, special exhibits, art shows and collaborations each year. Follow our Events Calendar to keep up with the latest virtual and in-person happenings.

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Questions? Please contact Elisa by email [email protected] or call (802) 265-0092.

Call to Artists

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The impact of COVID-19 has been felt all over N’dakinna (our homeland) for over three years. Now we have an opportunity for Native American visual and performing artists to create and share artwork that expresses their response to the pandemic experience. 

We are looking for Abenaki or Native American artists, musicians, and community members who can help to express the impact of this pandemic on ourselves, our families and community, through visual or performing arts, or simply sharing stories of personal experience and perceptions about the the COVID-19 global pandemic, vaccines, disparities, and access.  

We are defining artwork in its broadest form. All artistic mediums are welcome. Paintings, collage, mixed media, carving, sculpture, fiber, weaving, pottery, poetry, photography, music, storytelling, dance, video… 

The stories and artwork will be shared in an online exhibit about our experiences and will be considered for possible inclusion in a museum exhibit and educational materials. 

Eligible Native American artists will submit artwork by December 31, 2022, with an artist statement that explains the artwork, and a brief intake form. 

For more information, email [email protected]

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Sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health.

Abenaki Heritage Weekend 2022

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For information contact: Francine Poitras Jones

[email protected]

 804-943-6197

Abenaki Heritage Weekend June 18-19, 2022 at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

Are you looking for a special experience to start the summer? On June 18th and 19th, citizens of the New England Abenaki community will gather at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to celebrate their history and heritage and they are inviting you and your family to join them! 

This free event will be open from 11am to 4 pm both Saturday and Sunday. One of the highlights is the Native Arts Marketplace of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, where visitors can talk to artists, watch craft demonstrations, and purchase outstanding beadwork, paintings, jewelry, wampum, woodwork, leatherwork, drums, feather boxes, and other items.

Upcoming Events

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April 19 th, 2018, 7:00 pm – Wearing Our Heritage – Contemporary Abenaki artists and tribal members talk about the meaning of garments, accessories and regalia in their own lives and in the expression of community and tribal identity. This program was created by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association in partnership with Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and Flynn Center for the Arts, supported in part by a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council. Charlotte Library, Shelburne, VT. Admission is free.

May 7, 2018 – Abenaki Woman

Buy Native Art this Holiday Season

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Buy Native - Low ResThere’s still time to buy Native this holiday season. Shop for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts from our local Native American artists at these locations and art markets:

Everyday. Half Baked and Fully Brewed. Main Street Lincoln, NH. Features art by Bernie Mortz.

Online. http://store.lcmm.org/SearchResults.asp?Search=abenaki&Submit=Search carries a selection of wampum jewelry by Linda Lontoe Sheehan and Twined bags by Vera Longtoe Sheehan.

December 1, 2, & 3, Vermont International Festival. Champlain Expo, Essex Junction

December 2, Grande Isle School Holiday Craft Bazaar. Grande Isle, VT. Ash Baskets by Kerry Wood.

December 2 & 3. Winter Indian Arts & Crafts Market. Institute for American Indian Studies. Washington CT. Gourds by Jeanne Morningstar Kent.

December 9 & 10. Winter Indian Arts & Crafts Market. Institute for American Indian Studies. Washington CT.Gourds by Jeanne Morningstar Kent.

December 16 & 17. Winter Indian Arts & Crafts Market. Institute for American Indian Studies. Washington CT. Gourds by Jeanne Morningstar Kent.

November is Native American Heritage Month

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Did you know it’s Native American Heritage Month? The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association has partnered with several institutions to host events all over Vermont.

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November 4 & 5, 10 AM to 4:00 PM – Native Heritage Weekend –  Fort at Number 4, Charleston, NH. For more information visit http://www.fortat4.org/index.html

November 7, Wearing Our History: Abenaki Artists Panel Discussion

Strength, Unity, Power: Contemporary Practices in Native Arts

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The University of Massachusetts, Amherst second-year graduate students in the History of Art & Archictecture Department invite you to an exciting upcoming event:

Strength, Unity, Power: Contemporary Practices in Native Arts

UMASS_Roskill Symposium 2017_Spring

This symposium explores the cutting edge of what artists, museum professionals, and scholars today are doing to promote justice for Native American communities, both in the art world and beyond. The keynote address will be delivered by contemporary Native American artist, Wendy Red Star, and will be followed by a panel discussion withscholars, Dr. Sonya Atalay and Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, moderated by Dr.Dana Leibsohn.

The symposium is a free event hosted by the History of Art & Architecture department

Pocumtuck Homelands Festival celebrates Native American culture in Western Mass. (photos)

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-841b683e86ab9eacBy Steve Smith, Special to The Republican

August 5, 2017 at 10:00 PM

TURNERS FALLS – The Pocumtuck Homelands Festival celebrated Native American culture with live music, primitive skills demonstrations, storytelling and more Saturday at Unity Park on the historic banks of the Connecticut River.

The festival featured vendors of Native American arts and crafts, and all were eager to share knowledge of their history and culture. Vera Longtoe Sheehan follows in the tradition of her ancestors, making twined baskets and bags. But it in her family, it is known as knotting. One basket of knotted milkweed took her an especially long time. “I stopped counting after 120 hours.”

The festival has attracted as many as 2,000 people in recent years, but occasional rain and the threat of thunderstorms may have discouraged some this year. “Everything is wet,” said Jack Kuehl, who makes canoes and drums. “The drums are wet and they won’t play; but everything will dry.”

Read more

Pocumtuck Homelands Festival

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The 4th Annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival, a celebration of Native American Art, Music, and Culture, takes place on Saturday, August 5 from 10am to 7pm at the Unity Park Waterfront in Turners Falls, MA. The event features live traditional, original and fusion music, Native American crafts, story telling ,drumming, games and activities for kids, primitive skills demonstrations, and an impressive selection of books.

The Mashantucket-Pequot archaeology team will be on site to analyze early contact period artifacts brought to the festival. Festival food will be available, including Native American fare. The Pocumtuck Homelands Festival is free, family friendly, educational, accessible and fun for all ages!
This event is sponsored by The Nolumbeka Project, with support by Turners Falls RuverCulture.

Read the full text and schedule on Facebook.

 

Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom

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Members of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association serve as faculty for this one-day professional development seminar at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM), designed to provide teachers and homeschool educators with new resources and techniques to help elementary students learn about the Abenaki tribe. This program is supported by a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council.

Abenaki culture and history that spans 11,000 years in the Champlain Valley will be introduced by culture bearers with deep understanding of how this vibrant regional culture continues into the 21st century. Some of the topics include: history and stereotypes; new resources being developed for use in classrooms; age-appropriate activities; and learning how you can better support Abenaki and other Native students while presenting American history. The program includes a gallery talk and tour of the traveling exhibition Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage that explores Abenaki identity and continuity through the lens of the clothing we make and wear to express our identity.

When: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 from 9:30am-4pm

Where: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, 4472 Basin Harbor Road, Vergennes, VT

Cost: $15 registration fee includes lunch and program materials.

Register: Eventbrite

Instructors:

Melody Walker Brook is an Adjunct Professor at Champlain College and has taught The Abenakis and Their Neighbors and Abenaki Spirituality at Johnson State College. She serves on the Vermont Commission of Native American Affairs and is a traditional beadworker and finger weaver.

Liz Charlebois, Abenaki culture bearer, is a powwow dancer, traditional bead worker, ash basket maker, and bitten birch bark artist. She cultivates a traditional garden and has organized a seed bank of heirloom seeds grown by the Indigenous people of the Northeast. Liz has served on the New Hampshire Commission of Native American Affairs and as Education Specialist at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH.

Lina Longtoe is certified Project WILD instructor for the Growing Up WILD, Aquatic WILD and Project WILD K – 12 programs, which are sponsored by the EPA, US Fish and Wildlife, and the National Wildlife Federation. Her area of study is environmental science with a concentration in sustainability. She is Tribal Documentarian for the Elnu Abenaki Tribe and maintains a YouTube channel to help preserve Abenaki culture.

Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, has a background in Museum Studies and Native American Studies. She has been designing and implementing educational programs with museums, schools and historic sites for over twenty-five years. Her art is focused on traditional clothing and twined woven plant fiber bags.

For more information, please contact:

Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Vermont Abenaki Artists Association [email protected]

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