All Together Now: Braiding Sweetgrass
Summer Reading 2023
Wednesday, July 19th, All Day
All Together Now is envisioned as a collaborative effort between the Library and community to encourage r
eading for pleasure and to start a conversation. We are reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (both adult and YA versions) and the picture book The First Blade of Sweetgrass by Suzanne Greenlaw. Free copies of the books are available at the Library - while supplies last.
Events will include book discussions around town led by NH Humanities speaker Damian Costello, story times with Miss Leah and the opening of the East School House Exhibit, "Notkikad-akik Ederly: The Indigenous Archaeology of Hampton Falls" hosted by Hunter Stetz from the Hampton Falls Historical Society. Download a printable event flyer and read more below.
All Together Now is co-hosted with the Hampton Falls Historical Society and Recreation Commission.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Hampton Falls Free Library and the NH Humanities.
This project was made possible with support from New Hampshire Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org.
EVENTS ~ all on Wednesday, July 19th
Lunch and Read with the Recreation Commission Summer Camp: participants who have signed up with the Summer Camp, will enjoy a lunch and read of The First Blade of Sweetgrass by Grenlaw and Frey. Books are available for pickup anytime at the Hampton Falls Free Library.
Damian Costello will lead TWO book discussions of our Community Read selection, Braiding Sweetgrass
on Wednesday, July 19th. Both are free and open to the public, no signup necessary.
2:00 - 3:00 pm, held at The Meadows, 27 Brown Road.
6:30 - 7:30 pm, held at the Hampton Falls Free Library, 7 Drinkwater Road
Damian Costello received his Ph.D. in theological studies from the University of Dayton and specializes in the intersection of Catholic theology, Indigenous spiritual traditions, and colonial history. He is an international expert on the life and legacy of Nicholas Black Elk and the author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism. Costello was born and raised in Vermont and his work is informed by five years of ethnographic work on the Navajo Nation. Costello serves the Director of Postgraduate Studies at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, an Indigenous designed and delivered ATS accredited graduate school.
Afternoon Story Time at the LIbrary at 3:00 pm. Miss Leah will lead a reading of The First Blade of Sweetgrass and brief discussion. All ages. Attendees will receive a free hard cover copy of the book!
Hunter Stetz will be hosting the exhibit titled "Notkikad-akik Edgerly: The Indigenous Archaeology of Hampton Falls" in the historic East School House of the Hampton Falls Historical Society, adjacent to the Library.
4:00 - 6:00 pm, East School House, 7 Drinkwater Road
The exhibit consists of stone tools found at Edgerly Farms near the salt marsh between the 1930s and 1960s. This site alone demonstrates that the Seabrook-Hamptons Estuary was central to regional social and trade networks before Europeans settled the area in 1638. As a tangible reminder of New Hampshire’s "deep history," the exhibit hopes to generate awareness and discussion regarding the chapters absent from the state's history books. Sponsored in part by NH Humanities and Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective.
Hunter Stetz is a Hampton Falls native and received a BA in Archaeology from Boston University in 2015. He returned to his NH roots to contribute to the communities and histories with which he has the deepest personal connections. Hunter is also the historian for the Seacoast Science Center, a trustee for the Hampton Falls Historical Society and the Locke Family Association, and a core member of the Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective.
Abenaki Basket Weaving Demonstration by Sherry Gould of the Nulhegan Band of Coosuk Abenaki.
4:00 - 6:00 pm, Outside the Library (or inside if inclement weather), 7 Drinkwater Road
Sherry Gould, MSHS, follows her ancestors path through Abenaki basket making and traditional medicines. She is the Special Projects Tribal Genealogist for the Nulhegan Band of Abenaki, Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation.