Visitors at the Mystic Seaport Museum learned about Indigenous culture Monday, connecting through cooking. To celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, the museum held a series of events to help people learn more about local Indigenous history and culture.
“The museum is committed to integrating Indigenous history, and modern-day stories, in our programming on a regular basis," said Sophia Matsas, a spokesperson for the museum.
Silvermoon LaRose, from the Narragansett nation, visited the museum for a cooking demonstration. LaRose is the assistant director of the Tomaquag Museum in Rhode Island. She made a traditional seafood stew.
“Food is something that is easy for people to engage with. We all have a connection with food because we all have to eat," said LaRose. “When I look at the ingredients that are in that stew, these are ingredients that have been known to my community through generations. Before I was a thought, this is what was sustaining my community.”
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Indigenous Peoples' Day, LaRose said, is about combatting the erasure of Indigenous communities.
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day is meant to really bring Indigenous people back to the forefront," said LaRose. "This is a day that we are looking for people to engage more and educate themselves- what are you missing? Whose perspectives aren’t there? What is not being told? We can do that through food."
The Mystic Seaport Museum offers hearth cooking demonstrations most days. They have recently begun working with LaRose to offer similar demonstrations from the Indigenous perspective, featuring traditional Native American dishes.
LaRose said she hopes that, after Indigenous Peoples' Day, people still work to learn more about the culture.
“When people are interested in hearing what Indigenous people are doing or what they have to say or the movements that they are creating, it expands our voice," said LaRose.
