Abenaki: The First People exhibition opening on May 6th

All members and friends of Alnôbaiwi are invited to our new Abenaki: The First People exhibition opening at  the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum on Saturday May 6th, 2PM. The Museum's address is 1 Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington, VT 05408.

This exhibition and partnership between Alnôbawai and the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum is newsworthy and important in that it presents Vermont history in a new and inclusive way. For those who grew up in a Vermont where the teaching of the history and continued existence of the original people was not included in any educational curriculum, this exhibition and partnership continues to expand a new and deeper understanding of Vermont.

The exhibition features the Abenaki Year, the seasonal calendar of people who lived in Vermont for over 8,000 years before European Settlement and who have lived here to the present day. Despite eugenics-based initiatives and other forms of cultural suppression the continued existence of the four Vermont bands is incontrovertible and for those Vermonters of Abenaki descent whose folkways, ceremonies and language have been passed down through the generations, the exhibition is an important statement.

We are here, and we will be here to preserve our traditions and to practice our culture on the land where we were first.

The exhibition will also feature a rotating exhibition of contemporary Abenaki artists and artisans. Adjacent to the indoor exhibition is the “Traditional Village,” a replica of an Abenaki settlement in the 1850s, 200 years after settlement, when Abenaki still maintained traditional ways while adapting to post-colonial life and absorbing indigenous cultures from other regions.

 Alnôbaiwi is an organization dedicated to preserve and practice Abenaki culture and heritage and to educate about the First People in Vermont. It is inclusive of all the Vermont bands, Mississquoi, Elnu, Koasek and Nulhegan as well as Canadian Abenaki and shares tradition and language with other tribes in the Wabanaki Confederacy: Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy & Penobscot.

The mission of the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum is to bring to life and preserve the history of this Intervale Park. It is located in the Ethan Allen Homestead Park which is part of the Winooski Valley Park District. The Winooski Valley Park District establishes and maintains parks, and conserves, preserves and manages land and waters and provides resource-based educational and recreational opportunities within the boundaries of its member municipalities in the Winooski River Valley.

The Exhibition was curated by Holly LaFrance and Patrick Lamphere  of the Alnôbaiwi Council in collaboration with Phelan Fretz, former Director of the ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and designed by Harvey Severence Design.

For more information or to schedule interviews with Alnôbaiwi contact David Schein at david@alnobaiwi.org or 716-640-4639; for the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum contact Angie Grove at ethanallenhomestead@gmail.com or (802) 865-4556.