Author Dan Boudillion will discuss his just-published book on the history of the Nashobah Praying Indians from the 1654 establishment of the Praying Indian Plantation to their sufferings during King Philip’s War and exile on Deer Island, to the loss of their lands in 1736. The Nashobah village was one is the 16 “Praying Villages” […]
Kimberley Connors, a local archaeologist specializing in public education, will share the fascinating archaeology of our local environment, from the Native American arrival thousands of years ago, through the European contact of the 1600s, and into the Colonial and early industrial periods. This program can help us appreciate our local landscape and what it offered […]
Former Acton Health Director, Doug Halley, describes the discovery of the Pine Hawk archaeological site and its significance. He relates how the project activated an increased interest in historical preservation, leading to the restoration of the Acton Stone Chamber and to continuing work on Acton’s Trail Through Time, which brings the interface of two different […]
For over 10,000 years the indigenous people of the land knew this area as Musketaquid, the land between the grassy rivers. This tour explores the history of the first people and how they lived in a land of abundance seeking to keep and foster balance with the natural world, their mother, who sustained them always. […]
Presented by Lucianne Lavin, director of research emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Studies. Over thousands of years, Native Americans in Eastern North America became experts of their natural environments, managing the plant, animal, and human communities for the benefit and survival of all. Indigenous folklore and sacred stories promoted this ecological balance and […]
This after-public-hours visit to the Robbins Museum in Middleboro, MA will include a viewing of a number of the museum’s special Indigenous artifacts and conversations with museum educators. Cost is $10 per person. Registration limited to 15. Car pools leaving from the Acton Memorial Library will be arranged a few days before the visit. Registration […]
Join a book group discussion of the History of the Nashobah Praying Indians, published earlier this year by Littleton historian Dan Boudillion, who will be on hand to sign copies before the discussion. Books will be available for purchase that day. In person only at Acton Memorial Library. This program is free but registration is […]
Bettina Abe, a long-time Acton trail volunteer and just retired member of Acton’s Conservation Division, will lead a brisk hike along the Nashoba Brook trail, with stops at the stone chamber and Native American ceremonial sites. Trail conditions can be rocky, uneven, and often wet, and thus participation is limited. Registrants will receive a detailed […]
Duncan Ritchie, Senior Archaeologist at The Public Archaeology Laboratory will talk about Sand Hill, a large multicomponent Middle Archaic to Late Woodland Period site on the Sudbury River in Wayland, MA. The large assemblage of chipped, ground and rough stone tools, ceramic sherds and radiocarbon dated features document pre-contact Native American activities over a 7,000-year […]
New England’s rock art, imagery carved or painted on stone, provides a tantalizing, if often opaque, window into the region’s deep indigenous history. Drawing primarily from examples in Maine, Peter Anick, vice president of ARARA (American Rock Art Research Association), reviews various attempts to date, contextualize, and interpret figures using geology, ethnography, and comparisons with […]
Extending a popular talk archaeologist Kimberley Connors gave last year, 4000 to 7000 Years Ago focuses specifically on Acton’s archaeological sites from the Middle Archaic period (4000-7000 years before present). The most well-known of these is the Pine Hawk site in South Acton, but there are several other sites along the Assabet River and its […]
Local archaeologist Kimberley Connors will lead a two-mile hike focusing on Native American features along the Trail Though Time in North Acton. Registrants will receive an email with details a few days before the walk. Limited to first 20 people to sign up, ages 15 and up. (Rain Date, Sunday, May 19, noon-2PM). Registration is […]