Read about the Nipmuc People
Our beloved kin : a new history of King Philip's War
E83.67 .B795 2018
"We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth." We acknowledge that the land on which we teach, study and research, our campus, Pakachoag Hill, is the unceded territory of the Nipmuc people. We honor their contributions while recognizing the legacy of colonialism, violence and erasure that has brought us to this moment. adapted from Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgment
Pakachoag: Where the River Bends
Resources
A Note on Conducting Research...
When conducting research on indigenous peoples (and other historically-oppressed groups), it's important to understand that even our systems of information are colonizing to a certain extent. Many systems that we use to organize information even today, such as the Library of Congress Call Numbers, are relatively old and may continue problematic language and organization. Librarians as a profession are working hard to change the way our information is organized -- but in the meantime, you may encounter organizational schema or vocabulary that we would not typically use today.
For example, when dealing with specific Native American nations, it's important to recognize that the names used in the Library of Congress system may not be the ones considered most appropriate today. For example, the Five Nations identify themselves under the name Haudenosaunee rather than the name Iroquois more commonly used by European settlers. However, the designation Iroquois is still used in the catalog system (and will appear in the titling and summaries of older secondary sources).
Likewise, you will find that indigenous voices are often poorly-preserved compared to those of their colonizers, and that indigenous authority is not always, in our academic systems, accorded the same weight as other kinds of authority (ex., peer-reviewed articles). Most of our citation systems are also not designed to properly acknowledge indigenous knowledge (see more on the Collect & Cite Research page).
Sources for Nipmuc History:
General Information:
- Our History - Nipmuc NationA brief overview of the history of the Nipmuc Nation, published by the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Council Inc
- The Story of Here: A Graphic Guide to Holy Cross and College Hill"This illustrated guide captures the history of the section of Worcester where the College of the Holy Cross is located. Historical sources and imaginative interpretations based on historical research are combined to create a unique "then and now" approach and experience of "double vision" to tell the story of College Hill."
- Nipmuc Place Names of New EnglandPublished by the Nipmuc Indian Association of Connecticut
- Timeline - from English to Algonquian (American Antiquarian Society)A timeline providing historical context to accompany AAS's digital exhibit, "From English to Algonquian: Early New England Translations."
- Native Land MapNative Land Digital is an indigenous-led, Canadian nonprofit that works to accurately map original indigenous territories around the world while educating users on indigenous history/culture and the legacies of colonialism.
(European) Historical Sources:
Indian names of places in Worcester County, Massachusetts : with interpretations of some of them by Call Number: F72.W9 K5 1905Publication Date: 1905Also available online.
- American Antiquarian Society - From English to Algonquian: Early New England TranslationsAn exhibition sampling books, pamphlets and broadsides written in Algonquian language in the 17th century, with the aim of outreaching and Christianization of the Nipmuc peoples.
- American Antiquarian Society - Photographs of North American Indians, 1850-1900"This illustrated inventory highlights a small collection of nineteenth-century photographs of Native Americans. "
- American Antiquarian Society - Reclaiming Heritage: Digitizing Early Nipmuc Histories from Colonial Documents"This online exhibition effectively creates a digital archive of several Algonquian-language printed books and pamphlets, or wussukwhonk as they are called in the Nipmuc language, chosen for the value they add to current language reclamation work taking place in Nipmuc country. The manuscript collections featured here include town records, land deeds, and account books from English settlements established on Nipmuc homelands in the southern part of the area now referred to as Worcester County."
- American Indian Histories & Cultures
- American Indian Newspapers [Boston Public Library subscription]
Date(s): 1828-2016.
National, local, and student publications produced by Indigenous communities across the United States in Canada. To access, sign-up for an e-card.
Indigenous Voices & Sources:
Dawnland Voices: an anthology of indigenous writing from New England by Call Number: PS508.I5 D38 2014ISBN: 9780803246867Publication Date: 2014
