(Above and below) East Providence Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laura McNamara introduced Dr. Weed for a 20-minute talk about Sowams on Zoom on October 27, 2020. Click here for a 24-minute video of the presentation.  

In the talk, Dr. Weed described the Indigenous history of Watchemoket, one of 54 places within the Sowams Heritage Area, and introduced the Pokanoket Tribe headed by Sagamore William Guy seen below speaking at last year’s Watchemoket Square Day presentation of plans by the East Providence Planning Department to create a tourist venue in the area.

Above maps show the lower Providence area after Roger Williams’ 1636 settlement with the Watchemoket-Montauup Trail crossing the Seekonk River at Tockwotton Hill. (Click here for a larger map from The Archaeology of College Hill.)

(Above) Click on the map to the right for an interactive map of the Sowams Heritage Area with links to the 54 locations from the 17th century.

Click here for a 24-minute video of the presentation.