The Moodys Will Speak About Strafford’s Abenaki History

Strafford’s long Abenaki history will be the talk of the town Wednesday, Jan. 21, when Donna and John Moody, considered among the most knowledgeable experts on native people in the area, will speak at the Senior Lunch, to Newton School students, and at the Lions Club dinner at Barrett Hall.

Donna Roberts Moody is an Abenaki elder and the Repatriation and Site Protection Coordinator for the Abenaki Nation. She is also a RN who has worked in health care for 38 years, using both traditional native and western medicine in critical care hospital and visiting nursing settings.

John Moody, whose namesake, Captain John Moody’s homestead is now the O’Brien farm in Tunbridge, and whose uncle settled on what is now known as Moody Hill in Strafford, is a third generation Dartmouth graduate. After a year in Vietnam, he returned in 1970 to heal the wounds of war. He helped to found the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) programs for Vietnam veterans in the Upper Valley, and graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Native American Studies and Anthropology.

John began working with the Abenaki in the late 1970s and has become a recognized expert on Abenaki history, culture and traditions.

The Moodys are the principal staff people at the Winter Center for Indigenous Traditions. Their talks will focus on the over 5,000 years of native history in the area and how the way of life practiced by these first people is a vital part of life today. They will also talk about how native people were forced in many instances over the last 200 years to keep quiet about their heritage and how many with strong Abenaki and native roots have always played an important and often unrecognized role of this area.

Their talks are co-sponsored by the Strafford Historical Society, the Morrill Memorial and Harris Library, and the Strafford Lions Club.

The Lions Club dinner will be open to the general public. Those wishing to attend the dinner can make reservations by contacting Vince Robinson. People are also welcome to attend just the talk, which will start at approximately 7:45 p.m. at Barrett Hall.

The Moodys are the first speakers in a series co-sponsored by the Strafford Historical Society and the Morrill Library. The next speaker will be retired Dartmouth professor Jere Daniell, who will speak on "Town Founding in Vermont: the Special Case of Strafford," Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Morrill Memorial and Harris Library. For more information contact John Freitag at 765-4003.

By John Freitag