PETERSHAM — The Quabbin/Nichewaug region of Central Massachusetts has a well documented cultural and natural history of pre-European settlement and land use prior to the early 1700s. Larry Buell, local land historian, on Sunday, May 22, from 2 to 4 p.m., will offer a program, “Exploring Pre-European History of the Quabbin/Nichewaug Region.” The program will meet on the Petersham Common and carpool to selected sites, including the winter encampment of the Mary Rowlandson’s Remove during King Philip’s War in 1676, the Stone House near Rum Rock on the Barre/Petersham town line, and other selected interpretative sites.
According to Buell, a retired Professor Emeritus of Human Ecology at Greenfield Community College and founder of GCC’s 42-year-old Outdoor Leadership Program and Earthlands, “The Quabbin/Nichewaug region’s history is rich in indigenous culture of the algonquin speaking Nipmuc Tribe to at least 11,000 years ago following the last ice age.”
For Buell, knowing one’s early history is part of a national and international movement to override social and environmental injustices that affect modern lives and can help everyone understand and act in sustainable and regenerative ways that were central to eons of indigenous cultures and so necessary at this time on the planet, according to a press release. Such programs are ways of connecting and remembering the deep history of the places in which we reside.
Other similar local programs include, Day of Remembrance, the 346th anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre of May 19, 1676 in Turners Falls offered by the Nolumbeka Project and the Nipmuc Cultural Celebration in Petersham from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both programs are on Saturday, May 21. The Sunday program is offered by the University of the Wild and its Sustainable Petersham Project. The tour of selected Pre-European historic sites is free and open to the public. For information contact Larry Buell at