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In the heart of Central Vermont has emerged a resource that is desired by many. Ndakinna Cultural Center http://www.ndakinna.org has opened it's doors at 34 Moscow Woods road in East Calais Vermont.
Ndakinna brings the Vermont Native community together helping to preserve a culture that has been nearly lost. Ongoing events such as drumming circles, language lessons and talking circles provide important cultural preservation for the Abenaki and other idegenious peoples living in the great state of Vermont. Ndakinna Cultural center also host a Native American Gift shop and museum. Allthough small the museum does offer some history such as a birch bark canoe and plenty of Abenaki baskets. The gift shop offers Native American crafts from various artists on a consignment basis. Many crafts are Abenaki made allthough they cannot be labeled as such do to The Abenaki not being recognized properly by the state of Vermont. The Abenaki were recognized in 2006 via senate bill S-117 however it recognized them as a minority population only and it left them in the cold with the Fedral indian arts & crafts law.
The Cultural Center also is getting involved with education. Education director Charlene Mcmanis is working to bring resources to the school system such as a recent directory developed by Ndakinna that lists contact information for many Abenaki speakers, crafts people, Historians and more. "The schools need to know who to contact" says president Todd Hebert.
So if you are traveling to Vermont or better yet live in Vermont be sure to visit this wonderful new Non Profit education center.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
