Over the next few weeks, the Nolumbeka Project is hosting several in-person and virtual events leading up to the Day of Remembrance at the Great Falls Discovery Center. This event, held on Saturday, May 16, commemorates the 350th anniversary of the 1676 Great Falls Massacre.
Artist Exhibition
Since early April, the center has also featured the exhibition “All Our Relations: To Honor the Wampanoag Supreme Sachem Pometacomet.” This showcase highlights works by artists Deborah Spears Moorehead (Seaconke and Pokanoket Wampanoag) and Robert Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag).
The art follows a theme of pre-colonization, specifically the 350th Anniversary of King Philip’s War, also known as Metacom’s Resistance, and the Great Falls Massacre that took place on May 19, 1676. This massacre of 300 non-combatants — namely women, children and the elderly — was led by English forces under the direction of Capt. William Turner.
Moorehead explained that her artistic expression is deeply rooted in her ancestry and homeland, adding that she is a descendant of Metacomet and that, generations later, her family has “kept that bloodline strong.”
When asked how she feels about being part of this exhibition, she expressed that the show and the Nolumbeka Project follow her belief of “not about us without us,” sharing that this is done in a way that lets her and other Native people speak about their own stories and history.
“The Nolumbeka Project and associates are successful in being right on point, honoring and remembering our ancestors who were massacred on our homeland,” Moorehead said in an email. “The healing of all humanity begins with acknowledging Indigenous people’s knowledge and our way of life of living in balance by having a reciprocal relationship with each other and the Earth that sustains all life.”
Peters will also have his artwork displayed, including his piece “Peskeompskut,” which depicts what the Great Falls would have looked like pre-colonization and was gifted to the town of Montague. Another piece on display is called “Metacomet.” Peters said that this painting manifested after a vision he had of the Wampanoag sachem.
This painting was created specifically for the 350th anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre. Peters noted that being part of this exhibition and remembrance of the massacre is significant: “You want to do it in the right way, in a good way, and we’ve done that.”
Ahead of May 16, Spears Moorehead and Peters will participate in a Zoom artist talk on Saturday, April 25, moderated by Nolumbeka Project President David Brule. Then on Sunday, April 26, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Brule will host a discussion titled “King Philip’s War in Your Backyard,” available both in person at the Discovery Center and via Zoom. Additionally, Moorehead and Peters will be present at the Day of Remembrance for an artist reception.
Partnerships of Historic Bostons
As part of its statewide programming for the 350th anniversary of the King Philip’s War, the volunteer organization Partnerships of Historic Bostons is hosting a virtual panel discussion titled “What Really Happened at Turners Falls? The Story of a Massacre” on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m.
This panel will feature Brule; Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians Liz Cold Wind Santana-Kiser; and archaeologist David Numec of Heritage Consultants.
According to the event posting, the panel will discuss the events in Turners Falls on May 19, 1676, detailing the history from archaeological and anthropological standpoints. The discussion will draw from the findings of a 12-year battlefield study completed last summer, which was funded by the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program.
As part of Historic Bostons’ commemoration of King Philip’s War, the organization is hosting several events in its “Metacom’s Resistance: Retelling King Philip’s War and Its Legacy” series. Brule explained that this panel uses the framing of “what really happened” to discuss a piece of largely unknown history that is finally coming to light.
“It only has been recently that people have been trying to find a little bit more balance to what really happened,” Brule said.
While the history of the massacre was largely told by white English men in the years following the battle, Native perspectives of that day — and the subsequent battle between English and Native forces — have become a focal point for telling the whole story centuries later.
Archaeological surveys for the battlefield study have been completed in Montague, Gill and Greenfield. In 2024, surveys in Greenfield found large clusters of musket balls and personal effects near Meridian Street, Colorado Avenue, Colrain Road and Nash’s Mill Road.
Heritage Consultants Chief Archaeologist Kevin McBride explained in August 2024 that the survey findings reflect fighting between the British and Native forces as a more stationary engagement — as evidenced by the cluster of musket balls — rather than a “running battle.”
Historic Bostons President Sarah Stewart has been working with Brule and the Nolumbeka Project on this upcoming talk. From her perspective as someone who’s lived in both England and New England, she said the idea of King Philip’s War being a victory by Turner was “accepted wisdom” for many, but it is not the truth being propagated today.
“When I started to learn about actual New England history, you realize, no, there’s a whole larger story that absolutely must be told that turns the traditional understanding of King Philip’s War on its head, and that says this war did not come out of nowhere,” Stewart explained.
The plan for Turners Falls to be involved in the “Metacom’s Resistance” series was presented to the former Battlefield Grant Advisory Committee with the recognition that Historic Bostons is a non-Native organization and that the programming would require consultation with tribal preservation officers. When asked how Historic Bostons has partnered with Indigenous people to host this series, Stewart cited the philosophy “nothing about us without us.”
“We’re a non-Indigenous group of volunteers. We can’t presume to tell it, but we can set up a forum in which people can tell their own story,” Stewart said, adding that she hopes people will attend the May 16 Day of Remembrance to hear what Indigenous speakers have to say about their experiences.
Each year, the Nolumbeka Project hosts a Day of Remembrance, but this year is a significant milestone marking the 350th anniversary. Starting at 10:30 a.m., a commemoration ceremony will be held at Unity Park, where three informative signs about the Great Falls Massacre will be installed. These signs were designed by Indigenous artists, with content written by the Nipmuck and Elnu-Abenaki peoples alongside archaeologists.
After the Unity Park dedication and the artist reception at the Discovery Center, a ceremony will begin outside the center featuring the intertribal drumming group Eastern Medicine Singers and several Indigenous presenters. To wrap up the day, the group plans to travel to a monument on Route 2 that commemorates the British actions during the massacre. There, they will hold a memorial ceremony to demonstrate that tribal nations were not erased, Brule said.
Reflecting on this year’s event, Brule said he is thrilled with the lineup of participants that he and Nolumbeka Project volunteer Diane Dix arranged. He noted that the mission of this Day of Remembrance, like those before it, is to continue healing from that brutal day in 1676.
“It’s not going to be joyous, but it should not be a day of mourning at the same time,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll continue to be an educating process for the townspeople of Montague too.”
