8 Best Places to Learn About New Hampshire’s Native American Heritage

New Hampshire offers a rich tapestry of Native American history and culture, with numerous sites and attractions that provide insights into the lives and traditions of its indigenous peoples. Here are eight of the best places to learn about New Hampshire’s Native American heritage:

1. Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum

   • Location: Warner, NH

   • Features: This museum showcases Native American cultures, particularly those of the Northeastern Woodlands. It offers guided tours, exhibits, and workshops on traditional crafts like basket-making. The museum also includes the Betsy Janeway Arboretum and Medicine Woods, highlighting plants used by Native peoples for food, medicine, and tools.

2. Hunter Archeological Site

   • Location: Claremont, NH

   • Features: A significant prehistoric Native American site with evidence of longhouses and artifacts from the Late Woodland period. It provides a glimpse into the lives of Native Americans along the upper Connecticut River Valley.

3. Indian Mortar Lot

   • Location: Laconia, NH

   • Features: A state historic site containing a rare petroglyph of a shad carved into a large boulder. The boulder was moved from its original location to preserve it for future study.

4. Ossipee Village

   • Location: Ossipee Lake

   • Features: Known for its historical significance as a substantial Native village, Ossipee Village was a major trading post. The area is rich in archaeological sites and offers insights into Native American life in the region.

5. Tenant Swamp Site

   • Location: Keene, NH

   • Features: This site contains the remains of the oldest known dwellings in New England, providing valuable archaeological evidence of early Native American presence in the Monadnock Region.

6. Swanzey Fish Dam

   • Location: Ashuelot River

   • Features: A 4,000-year-old fish dam still visible in the Ashuelot River, demonstrating the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Native Americans in the region.

7. Dover’s Indigenous Heritage

   • Location: Dover, NH

   • Features: The city acknowledges its indigenous past through land acknowledgments and bronze plaques honoring the Abenaki, Pennacook, and Wabanaki Peoples. It offers educational resources on Dover’s Native American history.

8. The Great North Woods

   • Location: Northern New Hampshire

   • Features: This region is steeped in Native American history, with many areas that were once home to various tribes. It provides a scenic backdrop to learn about the traditional ways of life and cultural practices of New Hampshire’s indigenous peoples.

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Archeological_Site
2. https://www.nhmagazine.com/paths-to-new-hampshires-native-past/
3. https://www.dover.nh.gov/indigenous/
4. https://harriscenter.org/about-us/merchandise/a-deep-presence
5. https://indigenousnh.com/2020/01/31/indigenous-heritage-of-southern-new-hampshire-from-the-past-to-the-present/