Contact: Steven Leibman or Grace Per Lee
802-864-1848 ext. 125 or 131
sleibman@echovermont.org or
gperlee@echovermont.org
MYSTERY ROCK AT ECHO
“Ramah Chert” found by Smithsonian Scientist Raises New
Questions
BURLINGTON, Vt. — You have likely heard the tales of the
Champlain Sea, the body of water that encompassed this region
thousands of years ago, before the birth of Lake Champlain.
Perhaps you’ve seen Charlotte the beluga whale at UVM’s Perkins
Museum, and maybe you’ve pictured a pristine ocean, teeming with
sea lions and walruses... but did your vision include people?
Well, it should, according to recent findings by Smithsonian
Arctic Archaeologist/Anthropologist Dr. Stephen Loring, and he
has the scientific evidence to prove it. Now, at ECHO Lake
Aquarium and Science Center, at the Leahy Center for Lake
Champlain, you can see a piece of that story, as part of their
newest exhibit “INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS: Native Peoples of the
Lake Champlain Basin.”
In the late 1970s, Dr. Loring was a graduate student working
for Vermont State Archaeologist Giovanna Peebles, documenting
the Indian artifact collections of Vermonters, when he came
across an ancient chiseled point in the collection of James
Manley. Loring knew he’d found something of interest, but it
took three decades of further research to realize just what the
significance of the artifact is: According to Loring, it
challenges the traditional theory that people from our area
traveled up into the Arctic 4,000 years ago. He has determined
that the point he found is in fact made of Ramah Chert, from
Ramah Bay, in northern Labrador, Canada — and that it is more
than 10,000 years old. The theory Loring has developed is that
early Basin dwellers were part of a sophisticated maritime
culture that traveled thousands of miles up the Champlain Sea
and into the Arctic, extracting and trading the Ramah Chert as
early as 11,000 years ago.
The Ramah Chert is just one of the artifacts showcased in
INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS. ECHO’s facility-wide Quadricentennial
exhibit also includes live species, a speaker’s series, and
Contemporary Portrait Gallery by acclaimed photographer Ned
Castle. ECHO will also host several screenings of the film
“Hidden Landscapes” by Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Ted
Timreck, which tells the story of Dr. Loring and his journey of
discovery. Through all of these elements, 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. Partnerships
such as the one with Dr. Stephen Loring, along with photographer
Ned Castle and Abenaki Historian Dr. Frederick M. Wiseman, allow
ECHO — and visitors to ECHO — to examine the multifaceted
human-landscape connections that go back thousands of years, and
are still viable today.
This exhibit is made possible by a grant from the US
Department of Education, through the support of US Senator
Patrick Leahy, the ECHO Annual Fund, and KeyBank.
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.
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1.802.864.1848
