By Carla Charter

Hundreds of years before European settlers came to the Athol area, the land had already been settled by Indigenous peoples from the Nipmuc Nation. The Nipmuc Memorial Committee of Athol will be honoring those Indigenous peoples who cared for this land for many years with a plaque and ceremony on July 31 at 6 p.m.

These Indigenous peoples populated the land from the Quabbin area all the way up the Connecticut Valley, according to Love Richardson, a member of the Hassanamisco band of the Nipmuc Nation -Tribal Liaison. The Athol settlement was located between the South Main Street bridge and junction of 2A and Daniel Shays Highway, said Charles “Rocky” Stone of the Athol Committee. These settlements were seasonal.

“In the summer the tribes lived closer to the water,” said Richardson.

“They would come down and fish the Millers River, which they called Papacontuckquash,” said Hume.

In the winter, they lived further away from the water. They traveled by Mishoons, which were dugout canoes. The tribe was in Athol, Petersham and Orange and along the banks of the Millers and Connecticut rivers, Hume continued.

The covering of their Wetu (homes) also changed depending on the season. In the summer they were covered with bulrush (cat-o-nine tails). In the winter they were covered with tree bark, said Richardson. Families lived, foraged, farmed and hunted together.

“Hides were used for blankets, bedding, wearing and trade and ground corn into flour,” said Richardson. “The Indigenous peoples tried to use every part of plant matter and hunted animals.”

“They lived their lives like anyone else,” said Hume. “They raised squash and grew other crops along the shores and fished the river, of course. They raised families and buried their ancestors.”

A number of Indigenous peoples from Central and Western Massachusetts also came to the Athol area to trade with the Nipmucs using wampum, which was their currency.

“They traded furs, fish and grain. They traded with the European settlers including land, however it was not necessarily in the Indigenous people’s favor. Eventually most of the land was taken by the government and European settlers,” said Hume. “In the beginning they got along with the European settlers but that disintegrated over time.”

The original idea for the tribute was Stone’s.

“Growing up in Athol, I was always interested in the history of the Native Americans. Before history is changed or forgotten I wanted to remember the Indigenous folks that were here hundreds and hundreds of years before we,” said Stone. “This has been a community effort headed up by a small group but has been supported by the Athol Town Manager and selectman, local businesses and citizens of Athol. The town administrator and board of selectmen and DPW were very supportive from the get-go.”

“Folks in this town have done an amazing job. Allies are very much needed and appreciated” stated Richardson.

The ceremony and plaque will be placed at the junction of North Orange Road and Mount Pleasant Street about 200 meters from the South Main Street bridge in Athol, Stone said.

The idea for the plaque began in January when the Nipmuc Memorial Committee contacted the Nipmuc Reservation in Grafton and spoke with Tenah Richardson about their plans. She directed them to her sister, Love Richardson.

“In March we had a conference call with her and three members of the committee, Alan Dernlanowicz, Hume and Meghan Stone, my daughter, and began communicating back and forth. In four months we had a plaque everyone approved of. The plaque was a collaboration between our committee the Nipmucs and Lindsey Gonzalez of Mann Lumber” he continued.

The stone that the plaque will be placed on was donated anonymously to the project. The committee is still accepting donations and checks can be made out to “Nipmuc Memorial Fund” and sent in care of Charles Stone, 350 Mayo Rd. Orange, MA. 01364

Prior to the July 31 ceremony in Athol, there will be a Nipmuc Nation PowWow at the Nipmuc Reservation in Grafton on July 30.

Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.

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