Contact: Grace Per Lee
802-864-1848 ext. 131
gperlee@echovermont.org
Discover Our Native Neighbors
ECHO to Launch “INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS” February 14, 2009
BURLINGTON, Vt. — For over 11,000 years, people have
inhabited the area connecting Vermont, upstate New York, and
Québec, Canada — from the Paleoindians of our last Ice Age to
the Abenaki and Mohawk of today. Starting February 14, as part
of the region’s year-long celebration of the Lake Champlain
Quadricentennial, ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center at the
Leahy Center for Lake Champlain is presenting a facility-wide
experience exploring their culture and history: “INDIGENOUS
EXPRESSIONS: Native Peoples of the Lake Champlain Basin” —
declared a “Top 10 Winter Event” by the Vermont Chamber of
Commerce.
Through hands-on exhibits, live species, a Contemporary
Portrait Gallery, speaker’s series, film screenings, and
artifacts, ECHO hopes to shed more light on indigenous stories
that have too often been just a side-note in history, and to
illustrate how their connections and adaptations to the land
allow our Native neighbors to survive and thrive in the Lake
Champlain Basin. In partnership with Smithsonian Institution
Archaeologist and Anthropologist Stephen Loring and Abenaki
Historian Frederick Wiseman, ECHO examines the multifaceted
human-landscape connections that go back thousands of years, and
are still viable today.
Says Executive Director Phelan Fretz, “Present-day historians
are just beginning to understand these complex materials-based
cultures from thousands of years ago. We don’t presume to tell
the whole story, but we do intend to reveal new scientific
information that will foster a spirited conversation.”
“INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS” will be eclectically integrated
throughout ECHO’s entire facility: from touchable artifacts to
live freshwater American eels to a photo collection by acclaimed
photographer Ned Castle — the exhibit offers elements for every
age and interest, and aims to present a Native perspective not
often taken; a journey of discovery.
In addition to “INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS” exhibits and resonant
educational and public programming, ECHO will host various
screenings of “Before the Lake was Champlain,” by Peabody
Award-winning filmmaker Ted Timreck, which explores the
sophisticated maritime travels of Native peoples long ago. For
more information call
1-877-324-6386, or visit echovermont.org.
This exhibit made possible by a grant from the US Department
of Education through the support of Patrick Leahy, KeyBank, and
the ECHO Annual Fund.
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center is located at the
Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, on Vermont’s Burlington
Waterfront. ECHO features 70 live species, over 100 interactive
experiences, seasonal changing exhibits and events — all
exploring the Ecology, Culture, History,
and Opportunity for stewardship of the Lake Champlain
Basin. The 2.2 acre Leahy Center environmental campus is also
highlighted by the Lake Champlain Basin Program Resource Room,
UVM’s Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, Lake Champlain
Navy Memorial, ECHO’s Eclectic Gift Shop, and green-themed
Think! Café. Open year-round, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., except
Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve & Day. Admission is $7-$9.50;
children under 3 and K-12 classroom teachers with credential ID
are free. For more information visit echovermont.org, call
1-877-ECHOFUN, or write to ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science
Center, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, One College Street,
Burlington, VT 05401.
### |
1.802.864.1848
