The Nolumbeka Mishoon Project
Link to the video produced by Vincent Hogan, for Nolumbeka Project.
The concept of building the Peskeompskut (Great Falls) mishoon (dugout canoe) began during a lunchtime conversation between David Brule and Jonathan Perry at the 2nd Street Bakery on 4th Street in Turners Falls following a monthly Battlefield Grant meeting. Two years later the actual construction of the 18-foot-long vessel was started at the 2019 Pocumtuck Homelands Festival with 55 consecutive hours of fire carving and scraping and the goal of launching it the following year as part of the 2020 festival. Due to Covid-19, plans for the festival were scrapped. We were very disappointed, but it felt spiritually and symbolically important to find a way to put the mishoon in the river as originally planned.
Thanks to the Connecticut River Conservancy we were able to organize a paddle with a limited number of participants. We are so grateful to Vince Hogan (Quinetucket LLC) for the spectacular filming and documenting of this very special event. The breathtaking footage makes it almost as good as being there! We give thanks to Jonathan Perry for his vision, expertise, inspiring words, and for completing the project on time despite pandemic related obstacles. Many thanks to the crew members for bringing this dream to life from fire carving a large log into a beautiful canoe to paddling the first mishoon to be on the river in a very long time. Bryan Camden donated his time and the use of Turners Falls Airport equipment to transport the log/mishoon to various locations and gave the firewood that was used to burn the dugout. David Brule spent countless hours coordinating the construction and launch of the mishoon in the Quonektakut to honor and celebrate the history and continued presence of the Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast. Also, deep appreciation to the many sponsors who supported this construction and event. They are listed at the end of the video. Please remember to thank them, too.
We are planning the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival and another paddle with more participants on the weekend of August 6 – 8. We will post updates at www.nolumbekaproject.org/