The Springfield Museums are proud to present “Ways of My Ancestors: We Are Nipmuc. We Are Freshwater People,” an exhibit in the Science Museum that was created to celebrate and educate the public about Nipmuc people currently living and working in Central and Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
The exhibit, which highlights the regalia, traditional arts, and current lives of Nipmuc people, was guest-curated by Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines, Jr., and features photography by Scott Strong Hawk Foster, both members of the Nipmuc tribe. It will be on exhibit through February 25, 2024.
“I’m thrilled that, thanks to Andre and Scott, the Science Museum can offer an exhibit that shows traditional arts being practiced by living Native people in our community and region,” said Jenny Powers, Director of the Science Museum. “This is one step toward improving Native Hall and elevating Native voices throughout our exhibits.”
In addition to portraits, this exhibit also includes a personal video statement from Gaines, “Wrung from the Inside Out,” which appeared in the Roxbury International Film Festival (ROXFILM) in summer 2023.
“We needed to create this exhibit for both public education and cultural revitalization,” said Gaines. “The goal of this exhibit is to create a space where people can not so much observe a display, but rather, feel a presence of our people. The objects, along with the pictures, paint a story of past, present, and future, and when we had balance with the earth.”
This is the first exhibit featured in the Springfield Science Museum’s Native Hall that focuses exclusively on the Native people who historically occupied this land and honors the lives and work of the Nipmuc people.
“These photographs reflect my travels within my home state of Massachusetts and throughout the ancestral homelands of the Native American Peoples of New England,” said Foster, a professional photographer based in Marlborough, MA, whose images are featured in the exhibit.
“As a Hassanamisco Nipmuc, my passion has become highlighting the resilient, rich, and diverse cultures and history of the Indigenous Peoples that are still here and all around us,” he continued. “I’ve come to realize, while attending powwows, cultural events, and Indigenous practices that span millennia, we see the people who walk in the same spaces, but often, they don’t see us. This exhibit will help to change that.” ■