STONE LANGUAGE – An American Abenaki Bioculture Seminar Series

10:00 AM-3:30 PM
Community Room, The Vermont History Center 60 Washington St., Barre, VT

Upcoming seminar schedule:

• October 11, 2025. Something of Value: The Vermont Abenakis, 1790-1970
• November 8, 2025. Always in Fashion: Wabanaki clothing & Body Adornment
• December 13, 2025, The Abenaki Cultural Conservancy Collection
• 2026 TOPICS TBA – Hold these dates: January 10, February 14, April 11, and May 9

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Join Dr. Frederick Wiseman as he premieres “Traces of the Past,” a review of 1790-1870 Vermont Indigenous decorative arts and tools. He will detail the new state-of-the-art “Stone Language” Indigenous approach to understanding the past through the guided consideration of an object’s material, form, decoration, and use-wear.

Dr. Wiseman will illustrate the technical tools of the material culture scientist, such as microscopes, colorimetry, and image analysis that are now implements used in Native ways to serve Indigenous purposes such and determini9ng ethnic authenticity, ancient land settlement patterns, and cultural revival.

It will focus on the newest of the VT Indigenous Heritage Center Technical Report, specifically deployed to document unbroken culture continuity in the Green Mountain State.

There will be an opportunity for a guided tour of the Abenaki Cultural Conservancy collection in the Vermont History Center, as well as a chance to purchase the “Traces” booklet and other important publications regarding the Vermont Abenaki community.