Sandwich Historical Society receives Research Grant

Photo by Franz Nicolay

The Sandwich Historical Society has received a grant from Historic New England to do research on the authenticity and cultural context of the small grouping of Native American artifacts in our collection, and to create programming for the public related to it. We will seek the advice of cultural anthropologists, collegiate academic institutions, and Abenaki leaders in this assessment and planning. 

This photo and the one below: A sampling of Indigenous Peoples artifacts within the collection of the Sandwich Historical Society. Photos by Franz Nicolay

Since its inception, the Sandwich Historical Society has primarily focused on the colonial and postcolonial Euro-American history of the town. We would like to explore, acknowledge, and document pre-contact and simultaneous uses of this land too. We wish to place in context the Indigenous Peoples, First Nation historical experience in the mountains and lakes region, as a foundational and inclusive element in our complete and evolving history.

We are reaching out to the Sandwich community and beyond, with two questions that might assist us in our research, via crowdsourcing techniques: 
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1. Are there any residents with direct Indigenous lines in their family, with stories that would be pertinent to our town’s historical timeline and before our incorporation as a town?
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2. Do you have artifacts within your family that you would be willing to lend or allow us to document, or sites on your property we may photograph, for specific summer programming that would give us further insight on the Indigenous history of this town?

 If so, please feel free to contact Franz Nicolay at sittingrock@gmail.com,
 on behalf of the Programs & Education, Collections, and Exhibition Committees at the Sandwich Historical Society. ​