Traditional Abenaki/Wabanaki Lesson Stories and Storytelling Traditions. Explore the traditional knowledge and values of the Wabanaki Peoples as revealed in their stories. These stories flow through the seasons of the Abenaki Lunar Calendar - making clear the absolute interconnectedness of the Indigenous Peoples and their environment throughout the millenia.

About the presenter:

Anne Jennison is a New Hampshire-based Native American storyteller, historian, educator, and craftsperson with both European and Abenaki heritage.  With Master’s degrees in both Storytelling and in History, Anne brings a wealth of knowledge - polished by more than 30 years of experience as a performing storyteller - to her retelling of timeless Native American lesson stories, especially the stories of the Northeast. 

Prior to retiring from teaching, Anne taught American History, World History, Cultural Anthropology, Storytelling, and Native American Studies courses for 20 years - at both the high school and college level.  Since retiring from classroom teaching, Anne continues to be an active public educator. She tells Native American stories and teaches Abenaki history and culture through her appearances for schools, colleges, powwows, museums, historical societies, and libraries.  Additionally, Anne gives demonstrations of Indigenous crafts such as beadwork and birch bark basket making. She also teaches storytelling workshops, traditional Abenaki crafts workshops, and gives storytelling performances for such places as Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH and other venues throughout New England.   At Strawbery Banke Museum, Anne is also a co-producer of the annual Dawnland StoryFest - New England’s only Native American Storytelling Festival.

Anne believes that our world is filled with thousands of rich cultures, all of which have given birth to their own unique collections of folklore and oral traditions. However, as a professional storyteller Anne chooses to tell primarily the Native American lesson stories that reflect the Abenaki part of her heritage and the Mohawk part of her husband’s heritage.  Anne explains it this way: 

“Stories from all traditions share the wonder of life and great gifts of humor and wisdom, but for their gentle yet critically important lessons of life, Native American lesson stories are my favorite to tell.  I first began learning Northeast Woodlands stories when my daughters were quite young, to teach them about their Abenaki and Mohawk heritage. And, although I mostly tell Indigenous Northeast Woodlands stories, over the years I have expanded my repertoire to include other Indigenous stories from all across Turtle Island”.