Eliot Bible on Display

Saturday, Mar. 1-Saturday, Apr. 26, 1-5 pm

Eliot Bible on Display in the Research Library

Here’s a rare opportunity to see our second edition of the Eliot Indian Bible, which was printed in 1685, and combines both the Old and New Testament in one volume. Missionary John Eliot translated the Old and New Testaments into the Natick dialect of the Massachusetts language by taking the phonetic form of the Algonkian/Massachusetts language and using the English (Roman) alphabet to convey the words. His translation was aided immensely by Native preacher and Harvard student Job Nesutan, and the printing was made possible by the assistance of James Printer, a Nipmuc printer’s apprentice.  The Bible’s legacy represents a complex history of cultural interaction involving literacy education, religious conversion, and challenges to Native oral tradition. Free.

Saturday, Mar. 1, 1-3 pm

A Conversation about America’s Oldest Bible

Join a conversation in the Research Library about the Eliot Bible with two of the nation’s leading scholars on the intersection of Indians, language, and religion.  Jessie Little Doe Baird, Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project founder and director, vice-chairwoman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient presents with Brown University history professor Linford Fisher, author of The Indian Great Awakening. The discussion is in War Theater I and is free with Museum admission, free to Museum members. Plan to visit the Research Library after the talk to view the Bible.

2014 American Indian Youth Literature Awards

2014 American Indian Youth Literature Awards

The American Indian Library Association is pleased to announce the 2014 American Indian Youth Literature Award winners. The awards were created to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians, Alaska Natives, Canadian First Nations, and Native Hawaiians. The winning and honor titles convey the past and present of the American Indian experience and are given in three categories—Picture Book, Middle School and Young Adult. 

Picture Book

Award Winner:

Caribou Song: 
Atihko Nikamon/Ateek Oonagamoon

Tomson Highway, author

John Rombough, illustrator

Fifth House, 2012

Middle School

Award Winner:

How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story

Tim Tingle

The Roadrunner Press, 2013

Middle School
Honor Book:

Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner

Tim Tingle

7th Generation, 2013

Young Adult 

Award Winner:

Killer of Enemies

Joseph Bruchac

Tu Books, 2013

Young Adult 

Honor Book:

If I Ever Get Out of Here

Eric Gansworth

Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013

Rachel Sayet

Moshup: Enduring Aquinnah Wampanoag Stories

Fortunately the snow held off on Saturday, January 25, when Rachel Sayet gave an excellent talk based her extensive research about Moshup which culminated in her Master’s thesis from Harvard University Extension. As a young girl living at Mohegan, Rachel learned traditional stories of giants and little people from her elders. The giant, Moshup, is always connected to the land and sea of southern New England. Mohegan and Pequot people as well as Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoags have many stories about Moshup which have been passed down for hundreds of years. In the 1920s, Rachel’s great-aunt Gladys Tantaquidgeon began recording Moshup stories among the Aquinnah of Martha’s Vineyard. Rachel demonstrated that while many different people have recorded Moshup stories, each from a unique perspective and for different purposes, these stories have always connected the Aquinnah Wampanoag people to the landscape, thereby reinforcing sovereignty for their nation and ensuring their survival. Rachel’s engaging presentation was well received by an interested and thoughtful audience in the Research Library.