You're Invited: Walking Tour in Stockbridge
OLLI is sponsoring 4 walks in conjunction with the Housatonic Heritage series of September guided tours
Also, some good news — see below…
Please visit the OLLI website page for details, and to register.
These walks reprise the performances that my colleague Kate Kidd and I conducted last year, as part of OLLI’s University Days focus on indigenous culture. This year, Kate and I will each lead two walks during September.
September 9, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. led by Michael Forbes Wilcox
September 10, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. led by Katherine Kidd
September 17, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. led by Katherine Kidd
September 23, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m led by Michael Forbes Wilcox
In anticipation of questions that might have come up during our tours, Kate and I worked together to develop a series of talking points that were not part of the original narrative for the walk. We later added other items, in response to queries we encountered during the walks that we led.
Participants in the walks were curious about many things, such as historical background of how the town came to be created, and explanations of how indigenous culture differed from the culture of the English invaders concerning such things as gender roles, family structure, agricultural practices, and governance.
You are welcome to bring your own curiosity (and questions) on these walks, for an open-ended discussion of historical and current issues. It is now 240 years since the Native people were forced to leave their homelands, where they had lived for thousands of years.
My forebears (1n both the Wilcox and the Bidwell lines) have been in this area since before that 1783 date of estrangement, and I struggle with the question of what are suitable reparations for the mistreatment of the Natives. Part of my personal response is to learn as much as I can about their history and culture, and to share my admiration for many aspects of their worldview. One very powerful collective action is described in the “Good News” section below.
The story of the early days of colonization should not be seen as simply an historical curiosity, but also as a missed opportunity to learn Native wisdom that could help us in today’s world to relate to each other and to the rest of the natural world.
These walks start at the Town Offices in the center of town, and head west, ending at the Indian Burial Grounds, overlooking the golf course, which originally was named Wnahktukook (various spellings) [“enclosed by the arc of the river”]. You will be challenged to imagine what that area might have looked like when it was used by the Natives for agriculture.
Along the way, we will visit the Mission House, the town cemetery, and the site of the first Meeting House. A recent archaeological dig uncovered evidence of an ancient dwelling.
Good News!
This article in the Berkshire Edge is a good description of a large parcel of land being returned to the care of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
The article mentions “the Mohican people living in Wnahktukuk, present-day Stockbridge“ — notice the slightly different spelling from the one I gave earlier. The word refers to what is sometimes called “the Great Meadow” (not the literal meaning of the word, but an apt description). There was undoubtedly a fairly large village that existed “since time immemorial” around that area, although it would not have had the same boundaries as the “present-day Stockbridge“ which has arbitrary Colonial boundaries. The Native community would have relied not just on the food grown on the flood plain (and elsewhere), but also upon fishing done in the river, as well as hunting, foraging, and sugaring done in nearby forests.
This is not the first parcel to have been returned to the tribe, but it may be the most significant to date, in part because of its proximity to the site of the last holdout of the people whose vast homeland is described in the article.