Connecticut’s Indigenous Communities

“An Introduction to Their Histories and Cultures” with Lucianne Lavin

Please join us for our lecture “Connecticut’s Indigenous Communities: An Introduction to Their Histories and Cultures” with Lucianne Lavin. This lecture is free to the public and will be presented via Zoom on Monday, January 16th at 6:30 PM. Registration is required to attend.

Eastern North America was not a “howling wilderness” as described by the early English settlers. It was a built landscape, managed by the first settlers of the land, its Indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities have long, rich histories that extend back to when they shared Mother Earth with mastodons and other extinct animals. Through those thousands of years, Native Americans became experts in their natural environments, a necessity for their physical survival as well as their spiritual obligation. Our first environmental stewards, Native American communities had long been managing their physical environments to enhance plant and animal populations as well as their human communities. Indigenous folklore and sacred stories promoted this ecological balance.

This presentation provides a window into tribal history and culture before and after European settlement, including that of the Weantinock and Pootatuck peoples in whose ancient homelands the town of Washington now resides.

Register here

About the Lecturer:
Lucianne Lavin is Director of Research and Collections, Emeritus at the Institute for American Indian Studies (a museum and research and educational center in Washington, Connecticut), a position she held for the past 18 years. She is an anthropologist and archaeologist who has over 50 years of research and field experience in Northeastern archaeology and anthropology, including teaching, museum exhibits and curatorial work, cultural resource management, editorial work, and public relations. Dr. Lavin is a founding member of the state’s Native American Heritage Advisory Council, and retired editor of the journal of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut, a position she held for 30 years. She was awarded the Russell award by the Archaeological Society of Connecticut and elected Fellow of the New York State Archaeological Association for exemplary archaeology work in their respective states. Dr. Lavin has written over 200 professional publications and technical reports on the archaeology and ethnohistory of the Northeast and received multiple awards for her outstanding book, Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures.