FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – New England Native American Culture Week (NENACW) will celebrate its fifth year in Providence, R.I., with several free and public events Monday, Sept. 22, through Sunday, September 28. Celebrated by many tribes throughout New England and particularly in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Eastern Connecticut, NENACW focuses on the traditions of the woodland Indians and highlights the cultural distinctions between tribes east of the Mississippi River.
NENACW co-sponsors include Rhode Island College (RIC), Eastern Medicine Cultural LLC, Mount Hope Neighborhood Association Inc., Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), Roger Williams National Memorial and MoonHawk Productions.
Raymond Two Hawks Watson, Pomham sachem of the Historic Mashapaug Narragansett Tribe and chair of the NENACW planning committee, said, “The weeklong celebration will center on some of the fundamental boundaries that bring both richness and challenge to Native American culture and particularly that of the Eastern Woodland tribes located throughout New England.”
The Fifth Annual NENACW will kick off with “Spiritual Boundaries,” a panel discussion examining Native American historic and contemporary belief systems on Monday, Sept. 22, at 6:00 p.m. in RIC’s Alger Hall, Room 110. The discussion will encompass traditional Native spirituality, the impacts of world religions and historic and contemporary ideologies.
The Second Annual Barros Gallery Native Art Exhibition, held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 199 Camp St., Providence, will showcase the works of local Native artists and artisans. Patrons will also be treated to live Native drumming as part of the exhibition by the Eastern Medicine Singers.
A special drum honoring event, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. in RIC’s Alger Hall, Room 110, will honor selected tribal leaders for their significant accomplishments and contributions to their tribes, the communities in the regions around them and Native American peoples far and wide. Honorees include Daryl “Black Eagle” Jamieson of the Pocasset tribe, Pokanoket Nation, and Lorén Spears of the Narragansett Tribal Nation. Mary E. “Princess Red Wing” Congdon (Pokanoket/Narragansett) and Edward “Chief Sunset” Michael (Narragansett) will be honored posthumously.
The drum honoring will be followed at 6:30 p.m. by the NENACW keynote address, “Limits to Leadership: The Native Experience,” by Kenneth F. Adams, chief of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe in Virginia’s King William County and chair of the Board of Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla., the nation’s oldest Native American college. Adams will reflect on Native American leadership and the political environment, as well as on his personal experience with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs’ recognition process as it has impacted his tribe. Upper Mattaponi, part of the Powhatan Chiefdom, is recognized as a tribe by the state of the Virginia but is not recognized by the federal government. The Upper Mattaponi Tribe is widely viewed as critical to the English settlers’ establishment of America’s first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Va., more than 400 years ago.
On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., NENACW will continue with the Fifth Annual Big Drum Powwow at the Roger Williams National Memorial, 284 North Main Street, Providence. Free and open to the public, the traditional Eastern Woodland Powwow will include a Grand Entry of dignitaries and tribal members in authentic Native American regalia at noon on both days. Other activities and events throughout each day will feature Native American arts, dance, crafts and food.
In noting the significance of the fifth anniversary of NENACW, RIC President Nancy Carriuolo said, “New England’s Native American history and culture are important parts of our region’s distinctive past and dynamic present. Rhode Island College has long been proud of educating Rhode Islanders, and RIC is proud to participate in Native American Culture Week.”
“The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is pleased to join with Rhode Island College and representatives of the Native community of Rhode Island to celebrate Native American Culture Week,” said Randall Rosenbaum, executive director of RISCA. “We have so much to learn from the Native American community, and this week of festive activities will allow all Rhode Islanders to participate in this rich and vibrant culture.”
For further information, please contact RIC Executive Director of Economic and Leadership Development Lawrence Wilson at (401) 456-9529 or Lwilson@ric.edu.
