Kahnawake
will be well represented in a major exhibition that opens to the
public on February 28 in Deerfield, Mass. The exhibition is called
"Remembering 1704: Context and Commemoration of the Deerfield
Raid."
The
exhibition includes gifts that Arosen, the Mohawk husband of Eunice
Williams (taken captive in the raid), had given to his brother-in-law,
Reverend Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, Mass., during a visit from
Kahnawake to New England back in the 18th century.
"We
wanted to include in the exhibition the bell (reputedly) retrieved
from Deerfield in 1704, but we were unable to receive permission
from the church council at the St. Francis Xavier Church (in Kahnawake),"
explained Memorial Hall Museum curator Suzanne Flynt from Deerfield
in an e-mail to The Eastern Door.
"Nonetheless,
we are very pleased to be including art from the following Kahnawake
artists in the Contemporary Response section of the exhibit,"
Flynt writes.
The
artwork includes a photo of Joe Deer by Martin Loft, who also submitted
a Kastowa (a Mohawk headdress she made); a stone sculpture by Steve
McComber (Silver Bear); a "Turtle Spirit" purse by Tammy
Beauvais Designs; a quilt entitled "Walking in the Footsteps
of Our Ancestors" made by Carla Goodleaf Hemlock of Calico
Cottage, plus two silk-screens and an etching by Ryan Rice. The
silk-screens are dubbed "Savage" and "Indian Summer."
The etching bears the title "500 years/Niiosharake."
Hemlock's
quilt is currently on exhibit at Calico Cottage on Route 132 in
Kahnawake. "I was surprised when the organizers of the exhibition
contacted me," she told The Eastern Door. Someone had sent
Flynt a photo of the quilt after seeing it on exhibition at a quilting
show in Vermont recently. As a result, Hemlock signed an agreement
to send the quilt to Deerfield on loan.
It
took Hemlock seven months, toiling 12 hours a day, to complete the
quilt whose value was recently appraised at $6,000 Canadian by the
American Quilters Society. "That surprised me even more,"
she confided. She plans to attend the Deerfield festivities with
her husband and two of their children.
The
Deerfield exhibits also include a decorated hard hat by Richard
Glazer-Danay, whose family left Kahnawake when his grandfather went
to Brooklyn as an ironworker. Glazer-Danay now resides in California.
For
those not familiar with the raid in question, a force of French
and Native allies on February 29, 1704 attacked the English settlement
of Deerfield, Mass.
In
the ensuing fight, 50 English and at least 11 French and Natives
were killed, Flynt recalls. Another 112 Deerfield residents were
taken prisoner and were marched to New France.
The
Native allies included Wobanakiak (Abenaki, Pennacook, Pocumtuck,
Sokoki), Mohawk and Wendat (Huron).
Though
this raid was a minor battle in the War of the Spanish Succession
(Queen Anne's War), the second in a series of global struggles pitting
England against France, each Native group had its own reasons for
attacking this English settlement.
Primarily
due to captives marrying Natives, the connections with participating
communities in 1704 have sustained over the years. Seven girls taken
captive from Deerfield ended up staying in Kahnawake for the rest
of their lives and raising families there.
During
the weekend of February 28-29, a host of activities will take place
to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the attack. Included in
that array will be a Native dance exhibition by Steve McComber's
Thunderhawk Dancers from Kahnawake.
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