GREENFIELD — Two Nolumbeka Project events will be held at Greenfield Community College this weekend, including a Friday night speaking program and Saturday afternoon social dance.

Full Snow Moon gathering

Returning for a fourth year, the Full Snow Moon Gathering and Eastern Woodlands Social Dance will be held in GCC’s Cohn Family Dining Commons. Starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, the single-file, call-and-response dances will be taught and led by the Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers.

The Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers are a group from the tribal communities of Mashpee on Cape Cod, Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard and Herring Pond in Bourne. They perform social songs and dances at museums, schools and other multi-cultural events. Their songs are accompanied by a water drum and handcrafted rattles.

Jennifer Lee, a board member with the Nolumbeka Project and a Northern Narragansett educator, said these dances offer an educational opportunity for people who may hold misconceptions about Indigenous culture.

“For hundreds of years, Native culture has been trivialized,” Lee said, adding that certain Indigenous practices have been outlawed or misinterpreted. “To get to know our Native neighbors, I feel, is really important.”

This event attracted more than 100 people in February 2024, and Lee said she’s seen the joy and interest in participating from both Native and non-Native people at previous social dances. She noted people with Indigenous backgrounds travel from other regions to participate.

Lee said taking the time to listen and learn about other cultures is important.

“If you have grown up in the United States, you have been subject to many different stereotypes about Native people,” Lee explained. “Let’s listen and hear what some folks have to say.”

As part of this social dance, there will be honored tribal guests, including Jose Ite “Little Arrow” Santana, Dan “Kwilawatow” Shears and Rebecca Todd, who serves as executive director of the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Conservancy.

Speaking program

The evening before the social dance, another Nolumbeka Project event will be held at GCC’s Cohn Family Dining Commons at 7 p.m. on Friday.

The program, titled “From the Ridge to the River: What It Means to Be a Citizen of the Watershed,” will feature two keynote speakers — Todd and Mashpee Wampanoag artist and activist Hartman Deetz.

According to a Nolumbeka Project event announcement, Deetz will speak about the connection between ecosystems and the plant and animal populations, along with what the human impact can be on these plants and animals.

Todd will speak about having a sense of place and connection within the environment, “physically, psychologically and spiritually.” She’ll also share what the Connecticut River Conservancy does to support the environment.

The Friday speaking program will also be streamed online. For both the speaking program and social dance, donations will be accepted and can be made on the Nolumbeka Project’s website.

For more information on either of the two programs, or to access the link to Friday’s livestream, visit nolumbekaproject.org/events.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.