MARBLEHEAD — Dozens gathered in the Jeremiah Lee Mansion Gardens Monday afternoon for a celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day featuring Indigenous vendors and performers.
Monday’s event was the 4th annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration organized by the Marblehead Museum and The Marblehead Indigenous Peoples Day Committee, after Town Meeting in 2019 formally backed observing Indigenous Peoples Day in lieu of Columbus Day on the second Monday of October.
Marblehead Museum Executive Director Lauren McCormack said the museum has put an emphasis on celebrating the history of all cultures — not just white Europeans.
“The museum believes very strongly that our job is to be telling all the history. So that means the white European history that means native history that means Black indigenous people of color history,” McCormack said. “We felt it was a great opportunity a few years back to partner up with the Marblehead indigenous peoples Day committee after they had passed indigenous peoples day for us to celebrate it in various ways over the years with native artisans, with native performers, singers, dancers, and such.”
McCormack said she was pleased with the turnout at the event Monday, which grew steadily ahead of a performance by the Nettukkusqk Singers slated for 1 p.m.
“We started in the middle of COVID. And every year we’ve had a great turnout, even in COVID. We were able to do it safely outside. What we found is that there’s an interest, there’s a hunger to learn more to appreciate this aspect of the town’s history,” McCormack said. “We’re very pleased.”
The museum is hoping to incorporate the history of Indigenous Peoples into more of its programming going forward, McCormack said.
“The long-term goal is for it to just be an integrated part of what we do as a museum. So we’ve started to do work towards that, we have resources on our website, and we hope to do events throughout the year rather than just in November or on Indigenous Peoples Day,” McCormack said.
McCormack emphasized that the celebration Monday was aimed at families, and offered an opportunity for education.
“It’s a family-friendly event. It’s an opportunity to enjoy the native culture, to learn about the native culture. So we’re very excited and honored to be hosting them,” McCormack said.
Among the families that made their way through the garden Monday was that of Gisella Stedman, of Marblehead, who brought her three children, Andrea, 10, Gabriella, 8, and Judah, 6, along with her to the event.
Stedman said she brought her children because she wanted them to have the chance to see firsthand what Indigenous culture looks like.
“I wanted to let them explore,” she said.
The Stedmans later purchased a pair of earrings from Native Creations, a vendor offering “spirit jewels” crafted by Sherry Smiling Otter, of Marblehead, a member of the town’s Indigenous Peoples Day Committee.
“We’re trying to work with the public to educate them,” Smiling Otter said in an interview. “Every year it’s been drawing a bigger and bigger crowd. There’s been more and more mention of it, the word’s been getting out more.”
Smiling Otter praised Select Board member Jackie Belf-Becker, who was in attendance at the event Monday, for her support of the event and the broader push to implement Indigenous Peoples Day in town.
Belf-Becker, in an interview, said Indigenous Peoples Day was an “important day” and added that she was impressed by the turnout Monday.
“It’s not typically very crowded but there aren’t enough chairs,” she said. “Every year seems to get bigger and bigger.”
Belf-Becker said Indigenous Peoples Day is part of a larger effort to celebrate diversity in Marblehead.
“We need to include diversity and this is just one piece of that,” she said.
In attendance Monday was Eighth Essex District State Rep.-Elect Jenny Armini, who was also drawn to the jewelry offered by Smiling Otter and Native Creations.
In an interview, Armini said she would have attended the event Monday regardless of her position as an elected official, saying she believed it was an opportunity to tell a more well-rounded story of who the community is.
“I think an event like this is so important for a community because it’s about telling a fuller story about who we are and where we came from and whether it’s through music or whether it’s through crafts or whether it’s through conversation, this is about teaching the current teaching everyone in our community, the true, the accurate, and beautiful history that we all share,” Armini said. “I want to be here to witness it and to celebrate it.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].