Norwalk Historical Society Virtual Lecture: Food Sovereignty in Native America- Virtual Lecture

In honor of Native American Heritage Month and in connection with the Norwalk Historical Society’s new exhibition, “Norwalk’s Changing Communities 13,000 BC – 1835”, the Society is hosting the virtual lecture, "Food Sovereignty in Native America- Virtual Lecture", with guest presenter Rachel Sayet (Mohegan Tribe) on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 6:00pm (Eastern Standard Time) via Zoom.  

Tickets are $5.00 per household and can be purchased here.

The Zoom link will be included at the bottom of your confirmation email.  It will also be emailed to you 24 hours and 1 hour before the event.

Join Rachel Sayet of the Mohegan Tribe as she discusses her work with the Mohegan Tribe’s Cultural Department where she developed food sovereignty initiatives and continued her community-based research focused on promoting traditional foods. She will also explain her most recent project, the Native Food Discussion Group, created to bring community members into discussion about Native foodways and to record traditional knowledge about seasonal eating, harvesting, growing and fishing practices.

Rachel Beth Sayet or Akitusut (She Who Reads) is a member of the Mohegan nation. Raised with the spirits of her ancestors, she grew up learning traditional stories and teachings and participating in tribal events. Rachel has always been passionate about and proud of her Mohegan heritage and identity as well as an avid studier and learner about other cultures, indigenous and beyond. She is currently the Native American Community Development Fellow at Five College Inc. Rachel has a BS in Restaurant Management from Cornell University. Rachel then went to graduate school at Harvard University for anthropology and museum studies and received her master's degree in 2012.

While at Harvard, Rachel worked at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology for three years and had the opportunity of being a curator for the exhibit “Digging Veritas: the archaeology and history of the Harvard Indian college and 17th century life”. Her thesis entitled: Moshups Continuance: sovereignty and the literature of the land of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Nation won the award for best thesis in the behavioral sciences at the Harvard University Extension School. In 2013 Rachel wrote a paper entitled “A Celebration of Land and Sea: modern indigenous cuisine in New England” which she presented at many conferences. This led her to start working on ground efforts at her own community and revitalizing traditional foods.

This program is in conjunction with the Norwalk Historical Society’s new exhibit, “Norwalk’s Changing Communities – 13,000BC – 1835”, which was funded in part by grants from Connecticut Humanities and the City of Norwalk Historical Commission.

For more information on this event and the Norwalk Historical Society visit www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org,  e-mail info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org , or call 203-846-0525. The Norwalk Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Image Credit: Rachel Beth Sayet