PLAINS SPEAKING

Portsmouth’s 1696 Massacre in Fact & Fiction

A series of programs exploring the history & legacy
of the massacre at the Portsmouth Plains

Champlain Natives

September 10 
7-8:30pm
Emerson Baker
Emerson Baker,  historical archeologist and professor of history at Salem State University, will speak to the patterns of English settlement in the Piscataqua region that gave rise to conflict with Natives in the 1690s. 

September 26
7-8:30pm – Lisa Brooks
Lisa Brooks, Abenaki scholar, historian and professor of American Studies at Amherst College, will provide a Native perspective on historical documents pertaining to the aggressions and outbreaks that took place in New England beginning with King Philip’s War (1675-78). Held at the Levenson Room, Portsmouth Public Library.

September 28, 1-3pm – Walking Tour
Near the Plains School, a 19th-century railroad line running through the Great Bog suggests the trail where, the morning after the massacre, the Wabanaki raiders and their captives were overcome by pursuing settlers. Denise and Paul Pouliot, Abenaki specialists in Native plant use, will speak about native species and their traditional uses.  Along the way, stops will be made to share narratives written by those captured in historic raids.

Sellers map inset

October 8, 7-8:30pm Panel Discussion
Nina Maurer, curator at Old Berwick Historical Society and project humanist for Plains Speaking, will present the findings of new research into the Portsmouth Plains Massacre and its impact.  This presentation will also include a panel discussion with Seacoast historians Sandra Rux and Stephanie Seacord.  

Free & open to the public  
Preregistration is required:  
info@pontine.org / 603.436.6660  

Lisa Brooks talk at:
Levenson Rm, Portsmouth Library

All other programs at:
The Plains School, 1 Plains Avenue, Portsmouth NH

Supported by a grant from —

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