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Native American storyteller Anne Jennison shared traditional Abenaki and Wabanaki stories at the Marblehead Museum on Monday in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, weaving tales that have carried lessons across generations for thousands of years.
The free program was the first staged in the museum’s new Jeremiah Lee Brick Kitchen at 157 Washington St., and drew community members eager to learn about northeastern Indigenous storytelling traditions on a day the town has observed since 2019.
Jennison, who holds master’s degrees in storytelling and history, opened with a land acknowledgment recognizing “the traditional unceded homelands of the Pentacuc, Abenaki, Wabanaki and other Indigenous peoples past and present, who graciously and diligently stewarded these Northeastern lands, the aki and the waterways, the nebi, for millennia, thousands of years, 12,800 years and counting and up to the present day.”
The storyteller, of European and Abenaki heritage, explained that Indigenous storytelling traditionally occurs from first frost through winter until last frost, when communities gathered around fires during months when hunting and gathering gave way to longer nights.
“The stories need to be entertaining. They don’t need to be didactic,” Jennison said during the program. “You can engage imaginations, and from that, people can learn.”
Jennison, who has more than 30 years of experience sharing Indigenous lesson stories, is listed on the New Hampshire Traditional Artist Roster as a traditional Native American storyteller and craftsperson. She serves as vice chair of the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs and is an affiliate faculty member at the University of New Hampshire’s Native American and Indigenous Studies minor.
The program featured stories about Gluskabe, a powerful being from Wabanaki tradition, along with tales from Cherokee and Lakota peoples. One Cherokee story about strawberries illustrated the importance of kind words and reconciliation.
“The shape and the size and color of the strawberry is to remind us that the words need to be kind, because the words we speak speak right to the heart of the person we’re talking with,” Jennison explained.
Her husband, Charlie Jennison, a jazz musician with Mohawk heritage, opened the program with traditional Eastern Woodlands flute music.
Marblehead adopted Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 14, 2019, when Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved Article 19, replacing Columbus Day for all municipal government and public schools.
Resident Leah Bokenkamp introduced the article, citing her desire for children to have “an inclusive, well-rounded understanding of history.” The Marblehead Taskforce Against Discrimination endorsed the change to promote respect for people of all nations and cultures.
“As we welcome Indigenous peoples back into our culture – it’s uncomfortable because of what happened,” Prospect Street resident Judith Black said at the 2019 Town Meeting. “What we do is we learn so we don’t do it again.”
The adoption honored Indigenous people across America and the local Naumkeag tribe, adding Marblehead’s name to a growing number of Massachusetts communities observing Indigenous Peoples Day.
Jennison emphasized the contemporary relevance of Indigenous peoples and their traditions.
“Indigenous peoples now are contemporary people,” she said. “We get up in the morning and check our email and we text people, and we are in touch.”
