‘Native American Communities In Western Connecticut,’ April 9

Those who greeted the first European settlers in Connecticut had a long history in the area, dating back to the days of hunting mastodons. Newtown Historical Society’s next program will examine that long history and its continuity with Native American communities today in a program in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street (Route 25).

Lucianne Lavin will present “We’re Still Here: Native American Communities in Western Connecticut” on Monday, April 9, beginning at 7:30 pm.

Often ignored in written histories, and sometimes considered as extinct as the mastodons themselves, Native American communities offer a story of accommodation and adaptation to rapidly changing physical and social environments beginning with the first contact with European traders and explorers even before settlement. Disease, technology, and the removal of traditional lands from tribal use had a major part in the relationships between the groups of old and new settlers, and forced the Indians to modify many of their traditional ways in order to survive.

Using both the modern technology of PowerPoint and the ancient technologies represented by artifacts borrowed from the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS) in Washington, Ms Lavin will describe the complex tribal societies and sophisticated sociopolitical traditions of Native Americans just prior to contact, the initial Native American-European contact situation, the effect of European settlement, and the survival strategies native leadership used to cope with the constantly changing social landscapes. She will also show that Native American communities remain a very vibrant part of Connecticut life today.

Ms Lavin is director of research and collections at IAIS. She is a member of the state’s Native American Heritage Advisory Council, and editor of The Journal of the Archeological Society of Connecticut.

She has more than 30 years of research and field experience in Northeastern archeology and anthropology, including teaching at several New York and Connecticut colleges, museum curatorial work, and cultural resource management. Ms Lavin received the Russell Award from the Archeological Society of Connecticut, and has been elected a Fellow of the New York State Archeological Association.

Her forthcoming book, tentatively titled Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples, Their Communities Then and Now, will be published by Yale this year. 

Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

For further information call 203-426-5937.