Speakers Joe Graveline and David Brule

Speakers and discussion. Joe Graveline and David Brule help us understand: Before “Greenfield” who was here? What did the landscape look like? Who is here today descended from original inhabitants of the Connecticut River Valley? How can we learn more?

Joe Graveline, former Nolumbeka Project president, is descended from Cherokee and Abenaki and began learning about the native culture from his mother at a young age. He specializes in presenting the unrepresented Indian side of American history. He continues to work with the Nolumbeka Project in various ways. He was one of the organizers of the Reconciliation Agreement; and of the Peoples Harvest Native American cultural celebration that took place on the Banks of the Connecticut River in Gill, MA in 2005 and 2006.

David Brule, Nolumbeka Project president, is of Narragansett and Nehantic descent. He is the coordinator of the National Park Service Battlefield Projection Program whose goal is to identify the likely locations of the King Phillip’s War (1675-76) Peskeompskut (Turners Falls) Battlefield and associated sites, including the Native American community Peskeompskut-Wissatinnewag. This is in partnership with an archaeologist, town historic commissions, and members of several New England tribes. He coordinated the construction and launch of a mishoon (dugout canoe) in the Quonektakut to honor and celebrate the history and continued presence of the Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast.

The Nolumbeka Project works to promote a deeper, broader, and more accurate depiction of the history of the Native Americans/American Indians of New England before and during European contact and colonization; to protect and preserve sites sacred to, and of historic value to, the Native Americans/American Indians of New England; and to create and promote related educational opportunities, preservation projects, and cultural events; and to work in partnership, as much as possible, with the tribes.