Educational project recognizes NH’s Abenaki heritage
The Abenaki Trails Project, launched last August, is highlighting New Hampshire’s Abenaki history and present-day Abenaki communities. It’s a partnership between the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki — a Native American tribe based in Vermont — and New Hampshire towns and organizations. Nulhegan Abenaki citizen and Hopkinton resident Darryl Peasley, who co-founded the project, talked about what it has accomplished since its launch in August 2020 and the initiatives it has planned for the future. For more, see abenakitribe.org.
What started the Abenaki Trails Project?
Back in 2010, when we were trying to get the law passed to create the Commission on Native American Affairs, I listened to some legislators say that there was no need to acknowledge the Abenaki [history] in New Hampshire because New Hampshire was just a pass-through state and no Indians actually lived here. That kind of got my blood boiling, because there were Indians who lived here, and they were Abenaki. … I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a project that would educate the public about the Abenaki and let people know that the Abenaki did live here, and that some of us still live here. … Hopkinton is where I’ve lived all my life, and it had actually changed Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day on its town calendar … so we started there.
So, is there an actual trail?
When we say Abenaki Trail Project, it’s not like a trail that you would walk; we don’t want to pinpoint any specific spot. It’s more of a trail from town to town to show people where the Abenaki lived and where we live now. … We have almost conclusively found [the locations of] four different Abenaki settlements, which, today, are within the town boundaries of Henniker, Warner, Hopkinton and Bradford. … We’re hoping to make a map or brochure so that you could spend a day or two traveling from one town to the next and being in the general area.
How big is the Abenaki population in New Hampshire?
There are hundreds in New Hampshire … living among you as factory workers, laborers, computer technicians, social workers, lawyers, doctors — everyday people. … Indians in this area [don’t look like] your stereotypical western Indian … so unless someone comes out and introduces themselves as an Abenaki person, chances are you would never know.
What partnerships and initiatives has the project established so far?
We’ve partnered with the Hopkinton, Henniker, Warner and Bradford historical societies. There are a couple of archaeologists with the Hopkinton Historical Society who we’re working with. … We’ve partnered with the New Hampshire Historical Society so that, if they come up with something [about Abenaki history], they’ll ask us about it, and we can tell them if there’s truth to it or not. … We [recently had an] art show … at Two Villages Art Society in Hopkinton with around 20 to 25 artists — some are Abenaki artists and some are our community partners — who do different things like fiber art, leather art, basketmaking and pottery.
What do you have planned for the future?
If you look at the calendar of what our team is planning for the summer, just about every weekend is booked up with one thing or another. … We’re going to be participating in the Living History event in Hillsborough this summer. … We’re putting together an Abenaki regalia display for the Kearsarge Indian Museum, and members have been constructing leggings, coats, shirts and moccasins for that. … Hopkinton has asked us to involve school kids in the project, so we have a couple of teachers on our team who have started putting together a curriculum that teaches kids what actually happened [in Abenaki history].
Are there any misconceptions about the Abenaki in New Hampshire that you hope to address?
You always read in the history books that the Indians killed all these people. You just hear the bad things. Some of it is true, and some of it isn’t true. We weren’t just murderers and marauders; we helped a lot, too. … We want to make sure people hear the other side of the story.
Featured photo: Darryl Peasley. Courtesy photo.