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Indian Museum ,Cultural Center & Gift Shop in East Montpelier Vermont Call 802-224-1055 Winter Hours Thurs-Fri 9:00-6:00 Weekends 10-4 |
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Indian Museum ,Cultural Center & Gift Shop in East Montpelier Vermont Call 802-224-1055 Winter Hours Thurs-Fri 9:00-6:00 Weekends 10-4 |
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Your place to visit for Vermont Ethnic Tourism
Second Annual Nawihla Native American
Festival May 31 and June 1 2008 For Immediate Release Contact: Nancy Millette telephone: 802-392-8006
The White Pine Association of the Koasek Abenaki Plan for 2008
The White Pine Association, the not-for-profit organization of the Koasek Abenaki Nation received their approval from the IRS in November. For the last year with help from fiscal agents Cultural Survival and Native Directions the White Pine Association has been able to gear up and be ready to spring into action once the notification came through.
On May 31 and June 1, 2008 the second annual Nawihla Native American Festival will be held at the VFW Field in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. We are very excited to have this new location, stated Nancy Millette, President of the White Pine Association. The field overlooks the meadows which holds the stories of the Abenaki's important history and is a sacred place to us.
Other projects the White Pine Association are actively working on is language and historical preservation. Thanks to the many donors to the White Pine in the last year the organization was able to purchase a rare 1884 dictionary of the Laurent to English Dictionary in mint condition. The organization also was able to secure a rare 50 cd audio set of the Laurent language. The White Pine Association's plans are to be able to purchase a multi cd burner to reproduce the language and to distribute it to the community members free of charge. WPA are also planning to develop a website that will host the audio language in MP3 format as well as the dictionary in PDF files to make it as accessible as possible. The Abenaki language is on the list of endangered languages. state Millette We want to be able to give this important material back to the community it belongs to so it will be saved. White Pine has already donated full copy of the audio language to Missisquio/ Sokoki St Francis Band to date. Millette and members of the WPA board has spent years working with other Native American communities such as Onondaga Reservation, Akwesasne and Kanatsiohareke to study how their successful language immersion programs helped to preserve the language which holds in itself the core of the cultural identity of the people to which it belongs.
In 2006, the Calley family of Wells River gave seeds to the Abenaki corn that was so important to not only the Abenaki people but to the settlers that migrated to the Coos Meadows so long ago. The corn corp was planted last year. Due to the unsettled weather the corn only double in size but has been shared with others for the up coming planting season 2008. Our plan with the corn is to be able to continually multiply our crops until we can freely distribute the seeds among all Abenaki people who are interested in helping us bring the corn back to it's perpetuity.
The White Pine Association is working hard to develop a Native American Directory and Speakers Bureau that will help promote Native American Artists, Native American arts and preservation organizations and educational speakers in the New England area. Millette has over 20 years experience in working in the Native Arts and Music field. In collaboration with other Native American organizations through out New England the White Pine Association's goal is to become a chamber of commerce to help promote the many talented individuals and organizations on the equal and successful level as the Native communities as the west have been able to accomplish. In partnership and friendship we extend a helping hand to others who are working in the same field. As one close friend and associate once said: A rising tide raises all ships. The long term goal is to develop a cultural center that can become a place for all Abenaki to use and benefit from. The Abenaki were never granted a reservation but the WPA feels strongly a place will give the Abenaki people an opportunity to preserve and pass onto the in the next generations . For more information contact Nancy Millette at 802-392-8006 or White Pine Association of the Koasek Nation PO Box 42, Newbury VT 05051 or the New Hampshire office at PO Box 34, Haverhill, NH 03765 |
