Pocumtuck Homelands Festival News and Needs

From the Nolumbeka Project:
Four weeks from tonight we will be renewed and sustained by our memories of another meaningful Pocumtuck Homelands Festival. We are very excited and feel extremely blessed to have the honor to promote this special celebration of Native American music, art, and culture. Of particular good fortune is that  this year the Turners Falls RiverCulture is co-sponsoring the festival with the Nolumbeka Project and helping us along in many many ways.

Our publicity is in the works and will be out in full force within a week and a half. We have added a few elements to the day, including the presence of experts to help  people identify and understand artifacts and stone structures they found left by the early indigenous culture and contact period colonials. Attached is a description  this exciting new aspect. Joe Graveline, David Brule and Howard Clark will repeat, condensed (30 minutes),  their well-attended presentations about the significance of Great Falls/Peskeompskut-Wissatinnewag to the natives and how the May 1676 massacre was such s dramatic turning point of the King Philip's War.. Many of the wonderful vendors from last year are  returning plus a few more. And Ray and Wanda Stemple will be serving up Native American fare from their "Now and Then" concession.

And, especially, we so look forward to the energy and inspiration brought to our spirits by special guest musicians: Joseph FireCrow, the Black Hawk Singers, the Medicine Mammal Singers, and the Visioning B.E.A.R. Singers.

We can use some help that day, if you're available. I will attach a copy of our volunteer needs list. Fortunately we  now have pick up trucks available for both trips of the risers, but we need strong people available at both ends and times to load them, unload them, set them up, and load them again.

Also, we are still trying to figure a way to move items from the vendor's cars to their spaces. We cannot drive or park on the grass. If we do so and cause any rut or damage we could lose the privilege of using the beautiful park. We're hoping there are a few people with large garden carts who would trust us to borrow them for that one day.

Even if you don't have the time to help,  please tell your friends this is happening. We hope you can make it, too. It will be an uplifting day.

Diane Dix, for the Nolumbeka Project