Day of Remembrance: Commemoration of the Great Falls Massacre, May 19, 1676, and Metacom’s Resistance (aka King Philip’s War) 350 Years Ago, 1676 – 2026
Saturday, May 16, 12:30 – 3:30 pm
Great Falls Discovery Center
2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA
Outdoors on the lawn. Rain or Shine.
We live near what was once known as the Great Falls, Peskeompskut, on the Quinnehtukqut River in the Pocumtuck Homelands. For 12,000 years tribes from all over the Northeast gathered at the falls to celebrate the bounty of fish runs, to share technology, trade, find spouses, and more. These huge annual intertribal gatherings ended tragically on May 19, 1676.
This year marks 350 years since Metacom’s Resistance—better known as King Philip’s War—and the Great Falls Massacre. During that uprising, displaced people from eastern tribes came to the Pocumtuck Homelands to seek refuge at the familiar falls. Just before dawn on May 19, 1676, a brutal massacre occurred. Colonial militia attacked one of the refugee encampments where women, children, and elders slept. The thunderous sound of the falls covered the footsteps of encroaching danger. More than 300 non-combatants were killed. Historians consider this tragedy the turning point of the war which ended a few months later in August.
Eastern Medicine Singers
An Indigenous, intertribal drum group based in Providence, RI, specializing in Eastern Algonquin traditional music. Mission: To bring cultural healing, preserve the Algonquin language, and educate through song. Performances: They perform in traditional regalia and have appeared at venues like the Newport Folk Festival and TEDxProvidence.
Strong Eagle ‘Many Feathers’ Daly
Strong Eagle ‘Many Feathers’ Daly is a member of the Nipmuc Tribe and a dedicated father, artist, and musician. Strong Eagle has spent the majority of his adult life becoming proficient in creating handmade wooden flutes and intricate carving of animal designs on his instruments. With wisdom passed down from his elders, he has since made numerous flutes and found his voice through playing them. He has performed at a variety of events, including weddings, funerals, large concerts, and tribal pow-wows. In 2011, with the help of a small team, he released a music CD titled Eagle’s Song to the Sun. His performances have also been featured at venues such as the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS). Rooted in his connection to Mother Earth and the Creator, he found being able to play for his community was not only a gift from Spirit but medicine for his spirit and heart. Whilst Strong Eagle begins his transition to elder, it is with humbleness he hopes to continue to connect with people through his music. “
Liz Coldwind Santana- Kiser
Liz Coldwind Santana- Kiser is a prominent figure in the Nipmuc/k community, known for her work as an Elder, Council Woman, and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians (CBNI). She has been actively involved in improving the health and well-being of the Nipmuck People for over five decades. Her dedication to preserving the culture and history of the Nipmuck people is evident in her presentations and community efforts. Liz is also an artist and educator, contributing to the education and advocacy for the Nipmuck people
Roger Longtoe Sheehan
Roger Longtoe Sheehan is the Sagamo (Chief) of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe and a talented Abenaki artist, Native musician and educator. He makes use of all of these talents, in Abenaki Living History events. Having spent most of his life researching Woodland Indian history, he takes great joy in sharing it with others. He does speaking engagements, performs Wabanaki music and Story Telling for people of all ages.
Dr. Margaret M. Bruchac
Dr. Margaret M. Bruchac (Nulhegan Abenaki) is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she founded and directed the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative. She holds a Masters and PhD in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Bruchac has long served as a consultant to Historic Northampton, Historic Deerfield, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, and Old Sturbridge Village Museum. She is the director of “The Wampum Trail,” a restorative research project designed to reconnect wampum belts in museum collections with their related Indigenous communities. Dr. Bruchac has also served as a research consultant for the National Park Service, focused on documenting Abenaki histories in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Martín Espada
Martín Espada has published more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist,
and translator. His new book of poems is called Jailbreak of Sparrows (2025). His
previous book, Floaters, won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2021. Other poetry collections include Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (2016), The Trouble
Ball (2011), The Republic of Poetry (2006), Alabanza (2003) and Imagine the Angels of Bread (1996). He is the editor of What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage
in the Age of Trump (2019). Espada has received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the
Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Creeley Award, an Academy of American
Poets Fellowship, the PEN/Revson Fellowship, a Letras Boricuas Fellowship, and a
Guggenheim Fellowship. The title poem of his collection Alabanza, about 9/11, has
been widely anthologized and performed. His book of essays and poems, Zapata’s
Disciple (1998), was banned in Tucson as part of the Mexican-American Studies
Program outlawed by the state of Arizona. A former tenant lawyer with Su Clínica
Legal in Greater Boston, Espada is a professor of English at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst.
Deborah Spears Moorehead
“Throughout my life, I have been deeply involved in various aspects of my Eastern Woodland Native American ancestry, culture, and connection to the homelands as stewards of the land. I have conducted extensive research over the past fifty years and have transformed it into various artistic expressions, including murals intended for activism and education, as well as literature, lectures, and music performances. My homeland inspires my art and tells a unique story. I belong to the Wampanoag Tribal Nation of the Seaconke and Pokanoket. I am a descendant of many regional Sachems, including Chief Sachem Massasoit, who befriended the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620, saving their lives during their first winter in Pokanoket homelands. Sassacus of the Pequot tribal Nation and John Sassamin of the Ponkapoag Massachusett are also in my ancestry. As an emic observer, I am immersed in my own cultural heritage and community, allowing me to understand and interpret experiences from an insider’s perspective. The primary focus of my work is in connecting the missing narratives of regional History, particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which have been disrupted or omitted in America’s version of History, resulting in the attempted erasure of our indigenous past.” Deb and Robert Peters will have an exhibition “All Our Relations: To Honor the Wampanoag Supreme Sachem Pometacomet on the 350th Anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre” on display April 2 through May 30 in the Great Hall at the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls. They are also participating in a Zoom presentation on Saturday, April 25, from 7-9 pm. Registration information will be posted at nolumbekaproject.org/events
Robert Peters
Robert Peters is a Mashpee Wampanoag artist, poet, and author. He is known for his work that blends historical and modern life of Indigenous people in the Northeast. His “Thirteen Moons Calendars: A Meditation on Indigenous Life” were published in 2015 and 2020. “Thirteen Moons” is accompanied by poetry, essays, and thoughts written over a span of twenty years. Robert’s family moved to the Wampanoag Homelands of Mashpee when he was ten and he has been involved in various cultural and community events throughout his life. He retired from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority after 24 years of service and continues to write, paint, and work with youth. Robert and Deborah Spears Moorehead will have an exhibition called All Our Relations: To Honor the Wampanoag Supreme Sachem Pometacomet on the 350th Anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre Art Exhibition on display April through May in the Great Hall at the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls. They are also participating in a Zoom presentation on Saturday, April 25, from 7 – 9 p.m. Registration information will be posted at nolumbekaproject.org/events
Diane Travis
Diane Travis is an artist / art educator who works in sculpture and installation. Her work often explores history, religion & spiritual beliefs. Diane frequently uses found, cast off materials to create her sculptures. “Acknowledgement” will be on display at the Discovery Center during the Day of Remembrance on May16.
Saving space for Pat Allen bio and the Reconciliation Ceremony and Agreement links
Maybe something from Tim Neumann
Maybe something from Ite Santana
Something about David
Nolumbeka Project 