History, Natural History & the Arts
New York’s Finger Lakes Region was well known to many Revolutionary War veterans as a place of both strife and potential. Strife because of conflict with Indigenous people, and great potential for lush productive farmland.
Soldiers witnessed both ends of the spectrum first-hand. [Read more…] about Colonial Canandaigua In War And Peace
Long-term plans for the Johnson Hall State Historic Site call for enhancements to more fully describe the historic role that the Mohawk and other Native peoples played in colonial-era New York. [Read more…] about State Parks Plans To Expand Native Legacy At Johnson Hall
When the English colonists arrived at Patuxet 400 years ago, they arrived at a confusing time. The World of the Wampanoag people had changed in the wake of a destabilizing epidemic.
This episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History is part of a two-episode series about the World of the Wampanoag. In Episode 290, we investigated the life, cultures, and trade of the Wampanoag and their neighbors, the Narragansett, up to December 16, 1620, the day the Mayflower made its way into Plymouth Harbor. [Read more…] about World of the Wampanoag: 1620 and Beyond
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America’s First Frontier: New York’s Pioneers and Their Fight for Freedom (2020 Reprint by HVA Press) recalls settlers in Upstate New York who sometimes faced hunger and disease, in addition to their ongoing conflicts with resident Native Americans, the French and later British loyalists. Author Francis Whiting Halsey was born in Unadilla, New York in 1851 and graduated Cornell University in 1873. He as an editor at the Binghamton Times (1873–1875) and New York Tribune (1875–1880). [Read more…] about A New Edition of Francis Whiting Halse’s Upstate NY History Published
Before New England was New England, it was the Dawnland. A region that remains the homeland of numerous Native American peoples, including the Wampanoag.
Over the next two episodes of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, we’ll explore the World of the Wampanoag before and after 1620, a year that saw approximately 100 English colonists enter the Wampanoags’ world. Those English colonists have been called the “Pilgrims” and this year, 2020, marks the 400th anniversary of their arrival in New England.
The name “Great Dismal Swamp” doesn’t evoke an image of a pleasant or beautiful place, and yet, it was an important place that offered land speculators the chance to profit and enslaved men and women a chance for freedom in colonial British America and the early United States.
For thousands of years, the American elm (Ulmus americana) was the go-to tree for building supplies and home furnishings, kind of a Home Depot of the forest.
For the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and other First Nations peoples, it provided roofing and walls for longhouses measuring over a hundred feet long, as well as for smaller dwellings and outbuildings.
Elm also furnished top-notch material to make items as diverse as ladles, canoes, trays, snow shovels, grain scoops, baskets, and containers of all sizes. [Read more…] about Elms: The Giving Tree
Who is American democracy for and who could participate in early American democracy?
Women and African Americans were often barred from voting in colonial and early republic elections. But what about Native Americans? Could Native Americans participate in early American democracy?
[Read more…] about Elections in Early America: Native Sovereignty
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is now accepting applications for its IMPACT! Grant program. The grants range from $2,500 to $12,000 and will be awarded to municipalities, not-for-profits with a 501(c)(3) designation, and federally-recognized Native American tribes within the boundaries of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Grants Available for Native Nations
Preservation Long Island has announced a new virtual exhibition, Indigenous History & Art at Good Little Water Place, beginning September 3, 2020.
The exhibit features artwork from nine contemporary Indigenous artists, offering a look at the history and on-going relations between Indigenous people and land. [Read more…] about Long Island Indigenous History & Art Virtual Exhibit