This program  is based on curriculum that our Founder developed many years ago that highlights cultural traditions, tenets and resiliency of the Abenaki people.

About the speaker:

Presented by Vera Longtoe Sheehan, founder of the Abenaki Arts and Education Center. Vera is a scholar, educator, activist, and artist with almost 30 years of experience developing transformative education opportunities and curriculum materials, as well being involved in education leadership for more than 10 years. She is currently the Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (2013 – present), the Instructor for “Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom” at Castleton University. Additionally, she is a Museum Educator at the Smithsonian where she delivers culturally responsive programs for K-12 audiences. Vera is an Executive Board Member for the Vermont Humanities Council and on the ACT 1 Task Force (2019 – present) dedicated to ethnic and social equity studies. The focus of Vera’s art is in traditional clothing and twined woven plant fiber bags which require sustainable methodology.

This project was funded by a grant from AARP.