Indigenous Stories: Digging for Native History in New Hampshire, Tuesday August 13

Abenaki history has been reduced to near-invisibility as a result of conquest, a conquering culture that placed little value on the Indian experience, and a strategy of self-preservation that required many Abenaki to go "underground," concealing their true identities for generations to avoid discrimination and persecution. Robert Goodby reveals archaeological evidence that shows their deep presence here, inches below the earth's surface, and evidence for an unbroken Native American presence from the end of the ice age to the present.  Important sites and artifacts from across New Hampshire, including some in the Seacoast Region, are discussed to tell a remarkable story of Abenaki history and survival.

Registration is not required, just drop in! All are welcome!

About the Presenter
Robert Goodby is a professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Brown University and has spent forty years studying Native American archaeological sites in New England. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Archeological Society, a former Trustee of the Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner and served on the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs. In 2010, he directed the excavations of four 12,600-year-old Paleoindian dwellings at the Tenant Swamp site in Keene, and his book A Deep Presence: 13,000 Years of Native American History, received a 2022 Benjamin Franklin medal from the Independent Book Publishers Association and the New Hampshire Writer’s Project 2023 People’s Choice Award for Non-Fiction.