Meet the Author

Larry Spotted Crow Mann visited the Research Library on Jan 28, and we know some people missed meeting him because it was a snow postoned date. He was excellent, so consider getting his book, Tales from the Whispering Basket. We're hoping that the weather cooperates for our next Meet the Author-Joan Tavares Avant (Granny Squannit). She'll be here on Sat., March 31, at 11 am. Come meet her and buy her book People of the First Light-she will certainly autograph it for you.

Meet the Author this Saturday, Jan. 28

The Museum was closed on January 21-too much snow! Our Meet the Author program takes place this Saturday, January 28, at 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Come meet Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc) and talk with him about his book, Tales from the Whispering Basket. Buy a copy from him and get it autographed at his talk.

Larry Spotted Crow Mann

Snow? Maybe this Saturday…we hope not because Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc) will be in the Research Library from 11:30 until 12:30 pm, greeting people and talking about his book, Tales from the Whispering Basket, composed of short pieces reflecting his Native roots and family traditions. So if it doesn’t snow and you want to meet him, please come to the first-ever Meet the Author program. It’s free! If the Museum is closed-call 800-411-9671 to check the status-come next Saturday, January 28, same time and place.

Meet the Author: Larry Spotted Crow Mann

Saturday, January 21, 11:30 am-12:30 pm

This year the Research Library debuts Meet the Author, a new program that brings local Native authors to the Museum to discuss their works. We’re pleased that Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc) is the first featured writer in the series. His book, Tales from the Whispering Basket, has received praise from readers and reviewers. His stories reflect his Native roots and family oral traditions but also embrace universal themes, with mature content. Spotted Crow has performed here with The Quabbin Lake Singers, and now we welcome him as a writer. Please join us to hear him talk about his book and the inspiration for writing the stories. Buy a copy for yourself or as a gift and get it autographed. In the Research Library, ages 14 and older. Free. Snow date is Jan. 28.

Smoke Signals

A group of 11 enthusiastic readers attended the Research Library’s discussion of Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals: A Screenplay on Saturday, November 19. Led by former MPMRC Public Programs Director, theater director, and dramaturge Betsy Theobald Richards, the group talked about the ways in which the author developed the story (originally featured as a short story in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven) into a screenplay for film. The group shared their thoughts about Alexie’s portrayal of life on and off the Coeur d’Alene Indian reservation and the humorous, sometimes poignant, ways he depicts the main characters, Victor and Junior, as they leave the reservation and face challenges and prejudices in the outside white world, what one character describes as a “foreign country.” Betsy further explored how Alexie developed his character(s), revealing a sense of underlying humanity within scenes of complex and conflicted emotions and the power of forgiveness. Following the discussion, participants viewed the film in the Museum Auditorium.

If you’re sorry that you missed this book/film discussion, please consider coming to the debut of our Meet the Author series on Jan. 21, 2012. Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Nipmuc) talks about his book, Tales from the Whispering Basket. And on March 31, visit with Granny Squannit, Joan Tavares Avant (Mashpee Wampanoag) as she talks about her book, People of the First Light. More information about these free talks will be posted soon!

Fresh Eyes in the Archives

Online access opens the doors of archives all over the world to armchair travellers and researchers. But, as more than 40 students who visited our Archives in the past month have found, the “real thing” can transport us to another time and place in a way that digital surrogates may not.

Visiting high school students brought keen eyes and a fresh perspective to documents such as an 18th century contract, in which a Shinnecock mother agrees to offer her son as an indentured servant when he reaches the age of six. Deciphering handwriting from 1755 and imagining the context and environment in which it was written made students feel like “detectives.”

After visiting a replica of Martha Hoxie “Matt” Langevin’s home in the Musuem, students “heard” the perseverance in her voice in the Archives, as they read some letters she wrote in the 1920s. Matt Langevin was a Mashantucket Pequot Tribal member and a beloved inspiration to subsequent generations of Pequots returning to the land.

Experienced and novice researchers alike are welcome in our Archives. Their visits provide a learning experience for both patron and archivist – and sometimes inspire the archivist to write some lyrics…

Pardon me miss, but I’ve never done this with a Real Live Page.
I’ve been on line but this is my first time with a Real Live Page.
Pardon me if gazing at these ancient leaves,
Fogs up my glasses and buckles my knees.
It’s so engaging to sit here while paging through time – it’s sublime,
With a Real Live Page.

(dig up the tune in your music archives, from Cy Coleman’s song, Real Live Girl )

Smoke Signals: Screenplay and Film

Only 2 weeks until the Smoke Signals screenplay and film discussion, here on November 19, at 2 pm. It’s free and you don’t even have to read the screenplay to enjoy the discussion and to watch the film! Here’s some information about Betsy Richards, discussion leader. She is a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker and we think it will be fun to compare the screenplay and the film (shown around 3:15 pm). Call (860) 396-6897 for information.

Betsy Theobald Richards (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) is currently the Creative Fellow with the Opportunity Agenda, a progressive communications and policy organization based in New York City. Formerly she was a Program Officer in Media, Arts and Culture at the Ford Foundation overseeing a national grant making portfolio on Native American arts and cultures. In addition, she had the pleasure of serving as the Director of Public Programs for Mashantucket Pequot Museum from its opening through 2003. In Betsy’s creative life, she is a theater director, playwright, producer and dramaturge. She is currently a member of the graduate faculty of New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and serves as the Senior Cultural Advisor to Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. She is a graduate of NYU and the Yale School of Drama and lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband Scott and children Cole and Annabel.