The Saratoga Native American Festival will be hosting an honoring ceremony for two Native American elders at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, on the grounds of the Saratoga State Park, Saratoga Springs, New York. Jeanne Brink (Abenaki) and Jake Swamp (Mohawk) will be honored for their long years of service as educators and cultural preservationists. These elders have a long record of having worked hard to assist their relatives, inspire their communities, and teach the upcoming generations. Both of them have been inspirational in preserving and promoting traditional language and culture.
Jeanne A. Brink, Abenaki, walks the ways of both traditional and academic knowledge; she has a Master’s Degree in Native American Studies, and she is continuing the Obomsawin tradition of fine basketry. She is a granddaughter and great niece of the Obomsawins of Thompson’s Point, VT, well-known Abenaki basket makers. In Vermont, Jeanne is considered a “master basketmaker”
Ms. Brink was project director and curator for the material culture and art exhibit “Spirit of the Abenaki.” She co-directed and curated an Abenaki art exhibit, “Shamanism, Magic, and the Busy Spider,” that toured the United States for five years. Her own basketry work has been exhibited in museums in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and elsewhere.
Those of us who are reclaiming the Abenaki language are especially grateful for the assistance Jeanne gave to the late ethnologist Dr. Gordon Day, by co-authoring Alnobaodwa: A Western Abenaki Language Guide, and computerizing Day’s Abenaki/English-
This talented grandmother is well-known on the powwow circuit, having served for 5 years as Coordinator for the “All My Relations Intertribal Pow-Wow” at the Shelburne Museum, and 3 years as Coordinator for the University of Vermont Intertribal Pow-wow. In the 1990s, Jeanne Brink began dancing around the state of Vermont with the “Abenaki Heritage Tour Group.” She served as the dance instructor for the Abenaki children’s dance group, “Circle of Courage.” For nearly two decades, she has been the coordinator for the “W’Abenaki Dancers,” a Western Abenaki family dance group that demonstrates social dances. The group includes her husband, Doug, and her grandson Colby.
Jeanne conducts workshops and programs on Western Abenaki storytelling, history, language, culture, basket making, oral tradition, dance, games, and current issues for the Speakers Bureau of the Vermont Humanities Council. Ms. Brink has served as a Native American consultant to the Ethan Allen Homestead and University of Vermont Robert Hull Fleming Museum, among other museums. She serves on the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs and the Community Council for Vermont Public Television. Her service reaches beyond the Abenaki community: she has served on the Lake Champlain Basin Program Cultural Heritage and Recreation Advisory Committee, the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Historical Society, and the Advisory Board of the University of Vermont Robert Hull Fleming Museum.
The third Saratoga Native American Festival is a collaborative effort of the Ndakinna Education Center and the NYS Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. Dozens of artisans and performers will be presenting art, crafts, music, dance, and storytelling. The event is open to the general public, with activities taking place under shelter, rain or shine. The Festival is part of a regional effort to educate people about the history, cultural traditions, and continued active presence of the Native peoples of the northeast. Schedules and tickets are available on-line at: .
The Ndakinna Education Center, an affiliate of the Greenfield Review Literary Center, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and charitable organization, based at the Marion F. Bowman Bruchac Memorial Nature Preserve in Greenfield Center, New York. The Center offers programs, performances, camps, field trips, and special events focusing on regional Native American understandings, Adirondack culture, wilderness skills and awareness of the natural world.
For further information, call:
Joe Bruchac (518) 584-1728
Ndakinna Education Center (518) 583-9958
