TURNERS FALLS — Marking the 347th anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre on Saturday, organizers with the Nolumbeka Project reflected on not only the past, but the importance of healing from it.

“You are all proof that we can look at each other as human beings and say, ‘What can we do to heal each other?’” said Joe Graveline, a local historian and co-founder of the Nolumbeka Project, an Indigenous history and culture preservation nonprofit.

The 10th annual Day of Remembrance recognized the often untold story of the conflict of May 19, 1676 at the falls. According to the Nolumbeka Project, the Great Falls Massacre is considered the major turning point of King Philip’s War, when 300 women, children and elders were killed during a surprise pre-dawn attack by Capt. William Turner and colonial militiamen. The yearly Day of Remembrance is in some ways a continuation of the reconciliation ceremony of 2004, when the town of Montague and members of the Narragansett tribe formally recognized the conflict of May 19, 1676, according to Nolumbeka Project Outreach Coordinator Diane Dix.

Several speakers at Saturday’s event focused on the Nolumbeka Project’s attempts to protect cultural sites around the Connecticut River. Graveline noted the village that was attacked during the Great Falls Massacre is now underwater in what is known as Barton Cove.

FirstLight Hydro Generating Co., which operates the dam that created Barton Cove, is applying for a new 50-year operating license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Indigenous representatives hoped to work with FirstLight to acquire a property on a hill next to the river in Gill where they have found 290 Indigenous-style graves. This acquisition, Graveline said, could act as reconciliation for the fact they cannot do ceremonies at the village that is now underwater.

“They said they would give us consideration,” Graveline said. “That was a year and a half ago, and we have nothing to show for it.”

“We are dismayed that we have not made any headway,” said David Brule, Nolumbeka Project chair and a member of the Nehantic Nation.

While FirstLight’s Flows and Fish Passage settlement was finalized by March 31, those regarding cultural resources and erosion have not yet been completed.

“We remain in active collaboration with stakeholders to reach agreement on cultural resources, recreation and erosion,” FirstLight Communications Manager Claire Belanger said in a statement earlier this month.

Speakers at Saturday’s Day of Remembrance also talked about burial grounds they hope will be given back to Indigenous tribes.

Brule mentioned land along the French King Highway in Greenfield that has remains of Nipmuc and Abenaki people who were likely victims of an epidemic or massacre. Through speaking with Greenfield officials and landowners, Brule is hopeful the land will be given back to the tribes.

“The bottom line is that they are promising to make it right,” Brule said.

Ken White, chair of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indian Council, spoke about failed attempts to stop bridge construction from Moon Island in Quincy to Long Island in Boston Harbor. He explained Christianized Nipmuc people were brought to Deer Island in forced imprisonment during King Philip’s War. Hundreds of people died of starvation and disease. White and other representatives hope to have an environmental study done to see if there are burial sites, but they are having difficulty making progress.

While the future of many projects is uncertain, speakers emphasized hope that there are opportunities to grow and learn from the Great Falls Massacre.

“Like our ancestors, we are the stewards of this land,” said Liz Coldwind Santana-Kiser, tribal historic preservation officer of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians. “We have a responsibility to protect this land and people that are here today.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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