Truro Historical Society

On Wednesday, August 5^th at 5 PM, the Truro Historical Society presents “Indigenous Plants of Cape Cod.” In this webinar, Debbie Merriam, Arboretum Director of the Mary Wakefield Charitable Trust in Milton, explores the two main factors that have impacted plant life here: European occupation and climate change. Before the arrival of Europeans, Truro was occupied by Native Americans for more than 10,000 years. Native People worked with existing ecosystems to benefit from the riches of the land while ensuring its long-term health and survival. Europeans took a different view of the land: commodification. This presentation explores these changes and looks at how our current changing climate is impacting Cape Cod.

Here’s the Zoom link:

We are proud to present our exhibition and online auction for The JOBI Plate Project – Truro 2020: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead. Pictured here is  #36 by Elizabeth Lazeren.The auction has begun and will end at 5 PM on August 27th. Bidding on each plate starts at $75 with $10 increments. Bidding will end at 5 PM on Thursday, August 27, 2020. You can see the plates without bidding. When you’re ready to bid, you will need to register. The exhibition is now displayed in the lobby of the Highland House Museum and is available to view by appointment each day from 10 AM-Noon and 2-4 PM.
To make your appointment, please email Lauren Kaufmann at [email protected]  To see the plates and follow the bidding, click here: 2020 Plate Project Auction.

Three Sisters Garden at the Cobb

With the help of Blue Flax Landscaping and owner, Theresa Sprague, the Truro Historical Society has planted a Three Sisters Garden on the lawn of the Cobb Archive.

For many Native American communities, three seeds – corn, beans, and squash – represent the most important crops. When planted together, the Three Sisters, work together to help one another thrive and survive. This garden was planted in tribute to the Wampanoag peoples, including the Pamets of Truro, who were the original natives of the land we now call Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The Truro Historical Society (THS) supports the peaceful Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice that is taking place in the United States and around the world. “Liberty and justice for all” means justice for Black and Indigenous populations, and for all people of color.

Museums and archives are not neutral spaces. Because we interpret history, we have the responsibility of presenting the past as fully and accurately as possible, including painful and uncomfortable aspects. The past feeds into the present, and when a community actively engages with its past, it can use its understanding to make a better society.

Truro was founded on land that had been inhabited by Native People for thousands of years, but these people were displaced by English settlers. There were enslaved people and indentured laborers enduring near-slavery conditions in Truro. In 1754, the town’s first minister, Reverend John Avery, bequeathed to his children three African-American enslaved men and “my Indian Girl Sarah.”

After reflecting on the “settler privilege” that most of us enjoy, the THS decided in late 2019 to mark the 400^thanniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival with a decolonial exhibition celebrating Truro’s first inhabitants, the Wampanoag Nation, from its origins to today. During the postponement caused by the coronavirus, the THS will continue to consult with Indigenous scholars and community members. We will increase our commitment to diversity and inclusion. As a token of our commitment, the THS wishes to share the Land Acknowledgment we have prepared in consultation with members of the Wampanoag Nation. This statement will stand at the entrance to the Highland House Museum’s permanent exhibition about the Paomet and the Wampanoag peoples.

Land Acknowledgment

The Highland House Museum stands on the traditional homeland of the Paomet Tribe, members of the Wampanoag Nation, who have inhabited Cape Cod for more than 12,000 years and who knew this part of Truro as Tashmuit. The Truro Historical Society acknowledges the displacement, suffering, and forced assimilation of the Wampanoag and other Native Peoples caused by European contact and colonization. We honor the struggles of the Wampanoag, People of the First Light, and support their resilience, and we ask museum visitors to reflect on our shared responsibility to maintain social justice.