HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON
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Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England
 A Zoom Presentation by Dr. Jean M. O'Brien
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 7 pm
REGISTER

Sponsored by On Native Land: Leverett Advocacy & Education Group

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Dr. Jean O'Brien (White Earth Ojibwe),
Professor of History, University of Minnesota.
Dr. O'Brien is the author of Firsting and Lasting:
Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England

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Professor Jean O’Brien (White Earth Ojibwe) will discuss how local historians in New England, writing between 1820 and 1880, promoted the myth of Indian extinction, if they wrote about the Indigenous population at all.

Local historians erased Indians from the record by focusing on “firsting,” which refers to the practice of listing the firsts of the proud English (e.g. first born, first settlement) and then “lasting,” in which local histories told of the tragic disappearance of the last members of the Indian population, who had not disappeared at all. Dr. O'Brien will describe  how these patterns were perpetuated and how they inform our present day.

During the discussion, presenters will read from the historical record (found in the Leverett Library and in Amherst’s Jones Library Special Collections), which demonstrates how western Massachusetts “firsted" and "lasted" its Indigenous people and often "replaced" them with monuments
.

Register Here for the Zoom link
Sliding Scale Admission: $0 - $20



In addition to Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England (University of Minnesota Press, 2010), Dr. O”Brien is the author of Dispossession by Degrees: Indian Land and Identity in Natick, Massachusetts, 1650-1790 (Cambridge: 1997) and Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit (with Lisa Blee) and Why You Can't Teach U.S. History without Indians (University of North Carolina Press, 2015). Dr. O’Brien holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago.​

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Gravesite of Sally Maminash, who is listed on her grave as "The Last of the Indians Here"
Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton, Massachusetts

HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON
46 Bridge Street Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
info@historicnorthampton.org | 413-584-6011

Museum Hours
Historic Northampton will be closed from December 24, 2022 to January 31, 2023.  Regular hours are expected to resume on February 1, 2023.
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  • About
    • About Historic Northampton
    • What's On View >
      • Main Street Exhibit
      • The Sarah Strong Chest
    • Hours and Directions
    • Board-Staff
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Legal/Financial
  • Programs
    • Upcoming Programs
    • Past Programs 2022
    • Help I am not receiving email messages
  • Explore
    • Collections & Research
    • History at Home >
      • Videos
      • Interactive Witch Trial
      • Paper Dolls
      • Hidden Histories
      • Scavenger Hunts
      • Coloring Pages
      • Brain Teasers
      • Peg Doll Hunts
      • Jonathan Edwards Prayer Requests
    • Properties >
      • Parsons House
      • Damon House
      • Shepherd House
      • Shepherd Barn 2020
      • The Bridge Street School Sprouts
    • Educational Websites
    • Historic Highlights
    • COVID-19 Stories >
      • Vaccination Photos
      • Submit Your COVID Story
      • Children React
      • Family and Neighborhood Fun
      • It's a New World
      • Hope and Togetherness
      • Images
      • How Illness Feels
      • Brings Forth Memory
      • Blessings and the New Busy
      • Fear and Worry
  • Indigenous Native History
    • Native Histories in Nonotuck
    • Nonotuck Histories Essay by Margaret M. Bruchac
    • Recovering Nonotuck Histories Photo Essay
    • Profiles of Native People
    • Extended Biographies of Native People
    • Nonotuck to Northampton Maps
    • Native LIves Bibliography
  • History of Slavery
    • About the Slavery Research Project
    • Black Enslaved People
    • Free Black People
    • Native Enslaved People
    • Enslavers of People
    • Relationship Map
    • Timeline of Slavery in Northampton
  • DONATE
    • DONATE WAYS TO GIVE
    • Make a Donation
    • RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
    • Become a Member
    • Donate to the Collection
    • Volunteer