The Nolumbeka Project, Inc.

At A Glance

Location: 

Greenfield, Massachusetts

Primary Issue Area:

  • Environmental Health
  • Food

Active since:

1993

Core volunteers:

87

Community Size:

32,000

Our Purpose

The Nolumbeka Project envisions a Connecticut River Valley where the histories, cultures, and persistence of Northeastern Indigenous Peoples are recognized and celebrated, and where the sense of community and belonging that was lost during King Philip's War can begin to be restored. We are deed-holders of 42 acres in Greenfield--the site of a more than 10,000-year-old Native American village and burial ground called Wissatinnewag. Wissatinnewag was part of a multi-village community at the Great Falls on the Connecticut River (present day Turners Falls) stewarded by the Pocumtuck people. Every year for millennia, the Pocumtuck welcomed tribal members from all over the Northeast to share in the bounty of fish and to celebrate community. We seek to continue the tradition of intertribal sharing of resources, skills, and friendship by hosting free and accessible public events where Indigenous presenters are invited to tell their own stories in their own words. We seek to preserve the heritage of the Pocumtuck in our stewardship of Wissatinnewag. Our goals are to ensure that the land is protected from development in perpetuity, that neighboring Native American Tribes' access to the land is secure, that we support the healing of the land from damage caused by mining, that the area containing burials be protected, and that we offer opportunities for education and healing to the general public.