Visit a special exhibition from Vermont Abenaki Artists Association arranged by Eloise Beil in our Fellowship Hall starting May 9. This is the next in our Fellowship Hall Art Gallery hangings. See more about that along with our application to show your work here.

From Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, Curator:

The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association gathered works by Abenaki artists of the Champlain Valley and Connecticut River Valley regions to illustrate the Abenaki relationship to water. Our culture shares awareness of water as a fundamental element necessary for all life, and the concern that pollution of water can change our traditional lifeways and the health of all our relations, human and animal. Nebizun: Water is Life draws visitors into the Native American worldview of water from the very first word. Nebizun means “medicine,” and the root word, Nebi, is the Abenaki word for water. As stewards of the environment, Native American people know the importance of clean water. We understand the healing powers of water, and know how essential water is to foodways, medicine, and everyday activities that may be taken for granted. Here in N’Dakinna (Abenaki for “Our Homeland”) which includes Vermont, New Hampshire, and parts of Massachusetts, New York, and Maine, Abenakis recognize the life-bringing qualities in the flowing blue hues of waterways such as Kwenitekw (the Connecticut River) and Bitawabagok (Lake Champlain). Inspired by a group of Wabanaki (Native American) Grandmothers who undertook a 857-km spiritual journey to walk from the Sipekne'katik River in Nova Scotia to the Penobscot River at Nebezin, in Passadumkeag, Maine, this exhibit hopes to inspire everyone to be a Water Protector.