
Leah Hopkins and Elizabeth Perry
Saturday, March 3, 1 p.m., Great Falls Discovery Center
2 Ave. A, Turners Falls, MA
Join Leah Hopkins (Narragansett/Niantic) and Elizabeth James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag) as they demonstrate and teach about the various traditional Native cooking methods of the Coastal Northeast. Leah and Elizabeth will share the recipes and cooking techniques of their families as well as the nutritional content of traditional foods. They will describe their cultural perspectives on these dishes and speak to the historical influence that Northeastern Native food has had on modern cuisine. This program will have a heavy focus on the tradition of maple sugaring as an important and much-celebrated gift of the early spring.
Leah explains, “We tend to have our own community celebrations and feasts on the full moons……..so March 3 would be the best date, as this is the day after our Maple Sugaring Moon celebrations, and Elizabeth and I do a lot of interesting programming with regards to maple sugaring…. and a cooking demonstration using maple as a staple ingredient.” This will be an indoor event with the cooking on a hotplate instead of an open fire. Due to liability issues, members of the public are not permitted to taste the food.
Leah Hopkins is known as a culture bearer, educator, traditional artist, and performer strongly rooted in her traditions passed down through her parents, grandparents and extended family, resulting in a strong passion for educating Native peoples and facilitating programs to increase cultural competency.
Elizabeth James-Perry is an enrolled member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe on the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard). Her fine art work focuses on Northeastern Woodlands Algonquian artistic expressions: Wampum carving, weaving, and natural dyeing. As a member of a Nation that has long lived on and harvested the sea, Elizabeth’s is a perspective that combines art and an appreciation for Native storytelling and traditional environmental knowledge in her ways of relating to coastal North Atlantic life.
This event is co-sponsored by the Nolumbeka Project, DCR, and Jaime and Senani Babson.