Northfield Oral History Program to Explore Region’s Indigenous History

As the last month of Northfield’s 350th anniversary celebration kicks off, the public is invited to Dickinson Memorial Library for the premiere of a long-running oral history project.

After taking on smaller, individual- and family-focused projects for the town during the anniversary celebration, Sunderland-based folklorists Michael and Carrie Kline are presenting their crown jewel of oral history with “New Lights in the Dawnland,” which features regional Indigenous voices and encompasses nearly 13,000 years of native history in a two-hour audio documentary.

“New Lights in the Dawnland” — with the name coming from the Abenaki name for present-day Northfield and the land around it — features Montague Battlefield Grant Advisory Committee members and Indigenous speakers David Brule, who is president of the Nolumbeka Project; Northfield resident Joe Graveline; Vermont resident Rich Holschuh and Doug Harris.

Read the full story in the Greenfield [MA] Recorder here.

Link to the event’s Facebook post from @Northfield MA 350th Anniversary 2023.