SEYMOUR-OXFORD — The Oxford Historical Society will host Lucianne Lavin in Saturday, Sept. 23, at Great Hill UM Church at 4 p.m. Ms. Lavin will discuss relations of the native population with Europeans during the early years, especially between the Dutch traders and settlers who came to this region and the indigenous communities in this area of the country.
Lavin’s book, Dutch and Indigenous Communities in Seventeenth-Century Northeastern North America (SUNY Press, 2021), is an edited volume rated by BookAuthority as one of the “16 Best New Archaeology eBooks to Read in 2021.” Dr. Lavin received a Certificate of Award for Women in American History from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
These essays by historians and archaeologists highlight the influence of Dutch and settlers on the early history of Northeastern North America, as well as their extensive and intensive relationships with its Indigenous peoples. The Dutch were not only traders; many were settlers, starting towns along long Island Sound and up the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware River and Housatonic River Valleys. Unfortunately, few are aware of this history. This aspect of state and local history has been overshadowed by history of relations between the English and the native peoples. State and local history curriculums have failed to feature these relationships which contrast with those between the English and the native peoples.
Lucianne Lavin, Ph.D. is an anthropologist & archaeologist who has over 50 years of research field and experience in Northeastern archaeology and anthropology, including teaching, museum exhibits and curatorial work, cultural resource management, editorial work, and public relations. Dr. Lavin is a founding member of the state’s Native American Heritage Advisory Council (a government agency whose appointed members advise the Office of State Archaeology and the State Historic Preservation Office on Native American graves/burials and sacred sites), and retired editor of the journal of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut, a position she held for 30 years. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from New York University and her B.A. from Indiana University. Dr. Lavin has written over 200 professional publications and technical reports on the archaeology and ethnohistory of the Northeast.
The Historical Society will host the talk in the handicap-accessible sanctuary, followed by refreshment and discussion in the fellowship hall. Admission to the event will be $5.00. The church is located 225 Great Hill Road, Seymour, at the intersection of Routes 334 and 188 at the Rotary. More information will be available by calling town historian Dorothy A. DeBisschop at 203 – 910-4574.
