Wednesday, October 26th, 2022
6:30pm at the Blackstone Memorial Library
In Branford, local legends have always claimed that the Dutch were present well before English colonists arrived in 1638. It’s a story that has been passed down from generation to generation for 350 years but dismissed as simply a local myth by historians. Where is the proof they have always asked? Where are the Dutch and English records that wrote about it? Where is the physical evidence that could prove they were really here?
In 1998 and 1999, when the remnants of a Dutch Fort were unearthed on Indian Neck, everything changed. Proof was found and the history of Branford and Connecticut changed forever.
Please join us as local historian and author, Jim Powers, tells the story of how the location of a Dutch trading post and fort was discovered right here in Branford.
Book Talk / Reading – Ancient Wisdom, Modern Hope; Relearning Environmental Connectiveness
At the Red Barn, 352 Main Street Durham Connecticut
January 15, 2022 at 2:00
Rising sea levels swamping low lying coastal regions, dramatically warming temperatures bringing about a radical transformation of the ecology and biodiversity of the environment through mass extinctions of faunal and floral life. Although this is a forecast for the near future of our planet, by looking to the past we can learn from the Indigenous people of Southern New England who over 14,000 years experienced dramatic climatic and environmental disruptions and changes. They not only survived, but thrived and their ability to adapt was the key to their survival. Their adaptability was due in large part to their relationship with and perception of everything within their environment. Can it be the same for us?
Indigenous success was predicated upon how they related to and perceived every single living and non-animate element they shared the planet with. They deeply understood that we and all creation are part of an interconnected web of energy and consciousness. Consequently they lived with a sense of gratitude in reciprocity, honoring their interdependence with the Living Earth.
Date: January 15, 2022 Time: 2:00 – 4:00 Cost: $10.00
Where: The Red Barn 352 Main Street Durham Ct 06422
Pre-register: By email – jpowers1741@gmail.com
By text – 860-967-7103
Recent Events Associated with Shadows Over Dawnland and the History of the Quinnipiac People:
September 18, 2021:
Featured speaker at the Friends of Fort Wooster’s Indigenous People Day and Celebration. New Haven’s Fort Wooster Park is on the land that wasonce the location of the main Quinnipiac village, Mioonkhtuck and the first “reservation” in English America (1638).
October 6, 2021:
Presentation and lecture about the history of the Quinnipiac People along the Shoreline of Connecticut at the Dudley Farm Museum in Guilford, Connecticut (www.dudleyfarm.com) for the Shoreline Adult Education Program (www.shorelineaulted.org). The Farm is home to the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum.
October 7, 2021:
Guest Lecturer for an Anthropology Class at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut on the History of the Quinnipiac People.
October 19, 2021:
A book reading and talk about Shadows Over Dawnland at the Guilford Free Library in Guilford, Connecticut at 7:00 (www.guilfordfreelibrary.org).
November 17, 2021:
A Presentation and Book Talk about the History of the Quinnipiac at the Annual Meeting of the Guilford Keeping Society (www.guilfordkeepingsociety.org) at the Guilford Free Library in Guilford, Connecticut at 7:00.
Recent News Article that Appeared in the Guilford Courier Newspaper on October 14, 2012:
Power of the Pen: Powers Shares Lessons of Native Americans
A Recent News Article that Appeared in the New Haven Based Online Magazine Daily Nutmeg on October 5,2021:
http://dailynutmeg.com/2021/10/05/quinnipiac-dawnland-collection-dudley-farm-museum-at-the-dawn/
Author James T Powers 