The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History presents “Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples,” a lecture and book signing by Dr. Lucianne Lavin, Director of Research and Collections, Institute for American Indian Studies. The lecture will be held in the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History on the UConn Storrs Campus, Saturday, December 14, 3 pm.
More than 10,000 years ago, people settled on lands that now lie within the boundaries of the state of Connecticut. Leaving no written records and scarce archaeological remains, these peoples and their communities have remained unknown to all but a few archaeologists and other scholars. How do we know anything about these ancient people? What are the clues and discoveries that tell the story of Connecticut’s indigenous peoples from the first settlement to the present day?
Dr. Lucianne Lavin, Director of Research and Collections at the Institute for American Indian Studies, drew on exciting new archaeological and ethnographic discoveries, interviews with Native Americans, and rare documents for her new book Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples - What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Their Cultures. The book creates a fascinating and remarkably detailed portrait of indigenous peoples before European contact and of their changing lives during the past 400 years. Join Dr. Lavin and learn about how and why she wrote the book as well as some of the intriguing histories and cultural characteristics of Connecticut’s indigenous peoples upon which it is based. A question and answer session will follow.
There will be copies of Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples - What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Their Cultures available for signing.
This program is open to adults and children ages 14 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult. The program is free and advanced registration is not required. To contact the Museum, visit http://www.cac.uconn.edu/mnhcurrentcalendar.html or call 860.486.4460.
The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center are part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UConn.
For more information, contact: Natural History Museum at 860.486.4460