Simsbury DEI Let's Talk Series: From Massacoe to Simsbury

About this event

Before 1670, the land now known as Simsbury, Connecticut was an indigenous village named Massacoe, part of the larger Tunix sub group of the Wappinger tribe. Along the Wattunskshausepo/Tunxis (aka Farmington) River, the people practiced traditional three sisters agriculture to supplement fish and game the land provided. Between the early 1640s to 1670, the native people of the area coexisted with the English who had arrived to the area to take advantage of the great stands of pine that helped grow the burgeoning colonial economy. The peaceful yet tenuous relationship between the indigenous and colonial neighbors disintegrated through the years and essentially ended in flames. An unfathomable decision had to be made for the native community: become enslaved, provide enslaved people from Africa, give 500 fathom of wampum or sign over 150 acres of lush meadowland to a few early English settlers. Commonly in early American history lessons we are taught of how the native people traded pieces of land for "some beads:" after all, Simsbury could have remained with the Massacoe people if they'd only provided the court with 500 fathoms of beads. But do we truly comprehend what 500 fathoms of beads really means? How many of us really understand what a fathom is? Or how much work it is to make a single bead of wampum? The goal of this presentation is for all to have a better appreciation of the expense of making Massacoe into Simsbury. We will explore more about what was going on around New England at the same time as the 'land deal', about the processes for making wampum and about what happened to the Massacoe people after ceding their homelands. The presenter hopes you walk out of the library looking at the world around you with a deeper appreciation and sense of duty to not only remember but feel compelled to never let such things happen again. Natalie Montoya-Barnes hails from the Hoosac river valley of Northern Berkshire County, where she earned a bachelors degree in history, a masters degree in humanities education, raised two history-and-geography obsessed children, taught in middle schools, built hiking trails and works tirelessly to make sure the people she encounters love and appreciate the area: warts and all. A program coordinator for the Davis Center at Williams College, she loves working with diverse communities to help build connections, understanding and appreciation for all. Aside from work at the college, Natalie is an executive board member for the Williamstown Historical Museum, and a member of the Nolumbeka Project, Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Woodlands Connect Steering Committee and Stockbridge Munsee Mohican Homelands Powwow: when she's not doing all that, she's outside exploring the beautiful world she lives in.