FIRST NATIONS DIPLOMACY OPENS THE PORTSMOUTH DOOR:
1713 Treaty of Portsmouth

In 2013, Portsmouth commemorated the 300th anniversary of the 1713 Treaty of Portsmouth between the English and the Native Americans of the Maine and New Hampshire coast. Two special exhibits, “First Nations Diplomacy Opens the Portsmouth Door,” at the Portsmouth Historical Society’s John Paul Jones House Museum and at Strawbery Banke Museum feature historical artifacts from the era and replicas of the original Treaty from the Library of Congress and the British Archives, signed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Native American dignitaries.

In conjunction with the exhibits, Strawbery Banke hosted the 1713 Treaty of Portsmouth Speaker Series thanks to a grant from the Roger R. and Theresa S. Thompson Endowment Fund.

On July 14, 2013, the 300th anniversary of the Treaty signing, Strawbery Banke Museum welcomed Colin Calloway, chair of the Native American Studies Program at Dartmouth College. 

July 14, the 300th anniversary of the signing, Colin Calloway, Dartmouth College Native American Studies, "Pen and Ink Witchcraft: Treaties and Treaty Making in Colonial America" (2013).

August 18, Jere Daniell, Colonial New Hampshire and the expansion of Portsmouth c. 1713.

October 5, Lisa Brooks, Native American Studies Program at Amherst College on Native American identity of place, The Common Pot.

October 20, Emerson “Tad” Baker, Salem State University, presents “Beer, Taverns & Witchcraft” focusing on early 18^th century tavern life.

November 3, John Bear Mitchell, Wabanaki story-teller and cultural historian from the Native American Studies Program at the University of Maine in Orono.

In 2014, Strawbery Banke hosted a Native American Heritage Month speaker series:

• November 4, “Native People of the Seacoast Area,” a lecture by Dana Benner of Micmac/Penobscot/Piqwacket descent and a member of the New Hampshire Inter-Tribal Council.
• November 11, “An Update on First Nations Diplomacy Opens the Portsmouth Door: 1713-14 Treaty of Portsmouth,” an illustrated talk by Charles B. Doleac, chair of the 1713-14 Treaty of Portsmouth Tricentennial Committee
• November 18, Abenaki Hearth Cooking, a presentation by Paul Pouliot, Sag8mo – Chief and President of COWASS North America, Inc.
• November 25, screening of “We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân” about the return of the Wampanoag language by Anne Makepeace.

 

 

For more information, visit www.1713TreatyofPortsmouth.org