A History of Native Burial Looting, Destruction & Protection in NH

Donna and John Moody will present the first of our programs on themes related to those found in the book Euphoria on Tuesday, October 6 at 7 pm at the Bartlett Public Library. This is a NH Humanities Council program.

The history of Native American site desecration and looting in the Americas is well known. New Hampshire has its share of similar stories, but the valuing and protection of these historic sites in NH did not just begin with the passage of a Native burial protection law in the early 1990s. In the 1820s the “giant by the lake,” the remains of an Abenaki man found in Melvin Village on Lake Winnipesaukee, was carefully reburied near his original burial location. John and Donna Moody explore the history of burial and site destruction, repatriation, and site protection in the Granite State.

Donna Moody is a Tribal Elder in the Abenaki Nation and Director of the Winter Center for Indigenous Traditions. She is the Repatriation and Site Protection Coordinator for the, Abenaki Nation and spokesperson for the Abenaki Nation to the State of NH and the Federal Government.

John Moody is the Ethnohistorian and Project Coordinator for the Winter Center for Indigenous Traditions. He earned a BA in Native American Studies and Anthropology at Dartmouth College.

Sponsored by Bartlett Public Library and Friends of Bartlett Public Library.

Susan August 22, 2018 / 6:25 pm

There is a collection of rocks and stones on my property on Lake Sunapee, which i wonder is a burial site. I would like to kearn more and becsure it is protected.

Thanks!

- onebookonevalley August 22, 2018 / 7:51 pm
  
  Dear Susan,
  This post is about a past event, but I think if you contact the NH State Archaeologist at the NH Division of Historical Resources, you could get an answer to your question, https://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/staff.html.