TURNERS FALLS — Clear blue skies and mild temperatures set the scene Friday for an afternoon of reflection and healing along the banks of the Connecticut River.
Before the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival began in 2012, the 2004 Reconciliation Ceremony was held in Unity Park to recognize the Great Falls Massacre of 1676, where English forces led by Capt. William Turner killed more than 300 non-combatant Native Americans, mainly women and children, in a surprise attack. The Reconciliation Ceremony, when Montague and members of the Narragansett tribe formally recognized the massacre, was a turning point toward healing for Native American people.
Twenty-one years on, another step was taken Friday by honoring Tom “Sakokwenionkwas” Porter, spiritual leader of the Mohawk community of Kanatsiohareke in New York, with a white pine tree dedicated to him in Unity Park at the end of a peace walk led by the New England Peace Pagoda of Leverett. This tree, known as the Great Tree of Peace, is rooted in significance for the five tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. It symbolizes the union of these tribes in peace after years of war.
“The peacemaker put the tree back on top, and sealed it to bury the weapons of war,” Porter said, explaining the story of the Great Tree of Peace and the White Roots of Peace, when the five tribes laid down their arms. “So to all you walkers that were walking for peace, that’s what you were doing.”
Billy Myers, a Mohawk tribe member who helped get the tree planted for Porter, spoke of the knowledge of peace that Porter has carried throughout his life and the impact of his knowledge on others.
“He knows every detail, he knows every aspect of peace, and this is his life,” Myers said.
David Brule, president of the Nolumbeka Project, an Indigenous history and culture preservation nonprofit, recounted the history of the land and the events of May 19, 1676, highlighting the significance of the dedication. While acknowledging the grim and grief-stricken history, Brule emphasized the value of the efforts toward healing through acknowledging the past and uncovering the truth of the massacre that was long understood only from the English perspective, as well as through archaeological studies of the land, the yearly celebration of the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival and now, the celebration of Porter.
“Something really bad happened, but it is gradually being recognized for what it is,” Brule said of the massacre, “but also being healed by you being here, by Tom [Porter] being here.”
“I believe what I’ve come to understand about Tom [Porter] is his way of going about things and keeping culture alive, and how important it is, and the learnings and the teachings that we need to pass on and keep alive are indeed something that I’ve been doing now for a while, without even knowing about him,” Treasurer of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians Jose “Ite” Santana said after discussing his work educating Indigenous youth on cultural practices. “I want him to know that his work is alive in a lot of us.”
Festival returns
On Saturday, hundreds gathered at Unity Park for the traditional Pocumtuck Homelands Festival. By noon, the main tent for music was busy with performances, seats in the history and author tent remained filled, and vendors and information tables had no shortage of business and interactions.
New and returning performers, speakers, craft and food vendors, and information tables were set up along the main path through the park. One new face to the festival, Executive Director of the Native Land Conservancy Diana Ruiz, spoke with people at her table about the Mashpee-based, Indigenous-led national nonprofit dedicated to land rescue and cultural preservation.
Ruiz, who heard about the festival from Native Land Conservancy Vice Chair Marlene Lopez, said people were curious about their work as a nonprofit, which includes a local effort with the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust to secure a conservation restriction on land in Northfield. She was excited to have the opportunity to raise awareness and Indigenous visibility.
“It’s nice to have the visibility, especially now, and it’s really encouraging to see people coming out and interested in wanting to learn about our work,” Ruiz said. “It’s a great opportunity to be in community with people.”
This sense of community remained strong throughout the day, highlighted by the traditional circle dancing led by Annawon Weeden. Under the warm sun, around 30 dancers joined hands and listened to Weeden as he guided them through following the beating drums and detailed the context behind the dances.
Next to the music tent, Jennifer Lee sat alongside multiple Northeast Woodland Tribe bark baskets, which she created using ash bark she gathered from her backyard.
A board member of the Nolumbeka Project and a basket-weaving educator, Lee said she’s come to every Pocumtuck Homelands Festival since its inaugural year, and she was touched by Friday evening’s white pine tree dedication. To her, the significance of the tree planting and the festival is the work being done to recognize the past, bridge cultural divides and learn from Porter.
“A lot of non-Native people don’t have a chance to meet Native people, and there are all these stereotypes, and when you get to meet Native folks and hang out, we have a good time,” Lee said of the opportunity to build connections at the festival. “We’re just people, and the culture is so beautiful, but the teachings that Tom [Porter] gives us are just life teachings. They’re how to be a good human being.”
