The Wappingers of Westchester and their Waterways: Looking at the Nepperhan (Saw Mill River) in an Indigenous Context

Author Evan Pritchard, a descendant of Mi’kmaq and Celtic people, will discuss various aspects of Westchester’s Wappingers and related Algonquian-speaking cultures.

Pritchard will discuss the Wappingers’ use of land and waterways as a way of better understanding the history of the Nepperhan/Saw Mill River. He will tie in a number of topics, ranging from indigenous place names to cosmology, to help reconstruct the past use of the river and celebrate its reconstruction today. Additionally, he will discuss his new book Bird Medicine (Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. Inc. – 2013) and how the early populations of Westchester might have interacted with birds of the region.

Pritchard is author of No Word For Time, Native New Yorkers, and Henry Hudson and the Algonquins of New York. He has taught Native studies at Marist College, Vassar College, and Pace University, with hundreds of radio and live appearances.