Two paintings by artist Ruth Major were placed on display at the Blanding Free Public Library in Rehoboth, MA on January 18, 2022, as part of the Sowams Heritage Area Project. One depicts the Pokanoket Massasoit Ousamequin, who welcomed the Pilgrims in 1621, and the other depicts one of his winter villages. In the photo […]

Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dr. David Weed met with Region 1 National Heritage Area Program Manager Peter Samuel by Zoom on January 13, 2022. This is their second meeting and comes as the Project is about to take on the task of creating a feasibility study in preparation for an application to the National Park Service for designation […]

By Antonia Noori Farzan,Providence Journal, Dec. 31, 2021 Not too long ago, college campuses and gatherings of left-wing activists were the only places where you were likely to hear a “land acknowledgement” statement. Now, you only have to go as far as Barrington Town Hall. Over the last year, a few towns across Rhode Islandhave started […]

The Barrington Town Council unanimously voted to adopt a Land Acknowledgement statement on December 6, 2021. Councilors Jacob Brier and Annelise Conway introduced the measure that will require the statement to be read at the beginning of all future Council meetings. The statement reads: “We recognize the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous […]

American Indian Study Committee members Wendy Brennen, Deb Jobin,  John Mensinger, Jacque Russom, Rock Singewald, and David Weed were joined by Pokanoket Sagamore William Guy and Sachem Tracey Brown as well as Town Council President Keri Cronin and Councilor Steve Calanda in front of the newly-installed Land Acknowledgement marker. The Town Council voted for what […]

The Sowams Heritage Area Project, Inc. sponsored a Business Forum on the Economic Development Case for establishing a National Sowams Heritage Area held at the East Providence Public Library on October 27, 2021.Participants in the Forum included Blackstone Valley Tourism Council President Robert Billington, RI Tourism Director Mark Brodeur , and Kristen Adamo, Pres. & […]

Two paintings by artist Ruth Major were placed on display at the Barrington Public Library October 6, 2021. Sowams Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dr. David Weed and Recreation and Senior Services Director Michele Gousie Geremia stand next to one depicting the Massasoit Ousamequin and in front of the other depicting the the settlement where […]

Four members of the Wampanoag Tribe visited the Bassetlaw Museum in Retford, England in preparation for events from September 21-25, 2021 as part of the Museum’s Plymouth 400 celebration. In preparation for the visit, they constructed a wetu on the grounds of the Museum, the first time such a structure has ever been built in […]

Amid the many discussions of whether John Winthrop’s call for the Massachusetts Colony to be a “city on a hill” was a claim for exceptionalism for themselves and a future America, not enough attention has been paid to what a “city on a hill” really meant in 17th-century New England. This talk by Dr. Francis […]