In 1985 archeologist Peter Thomas published research on Indigenous People who had been living in our area before Europeans arrived in the 1600’s. Thomas had been a participant in an archeological dig that took place near the Vernon Dam and, after much analysis, he published his findings.
According to Thomas, the Indigenous People who lived here followed a seasonal pattern. In March, when salmon, shad and alewives began their runs up the Connecticut River, families gathered by the Vernon rapids and the confluence of the West and Connecticut Rivers for a month or so, while large amounts of fish were eaten and processed for later use. By late April and throughout May farming activities began. Corn fields along the river were prepared and seeds planted. Fishing continued throughout this period and hunting of migratory birds also occurred.
By summer, small family-based communities were centered in settlements surrounded by the plantings of corn, beans and squash. People tended the crops through the summer, continued to fish and hunted along the transitional areas between fields and forests, where many game animals would gather. Locations like those found at the Retreat Meadows, the Great Meadows in Putney and the Vernon area near the present dam were prime Indigenous real estate.
During the late summer, while crops were maturing, wild plant foods like berries and nuts, medicinal herbs and plant fibers for clothing were gathered. By late summer, corn, beans and squash had matured.
Beginning in early fall, nuts, berries and herbs were collected dried and stored. Corn, beans and squash were also processed and stored for later use. When these activities were completed, the fall hunting season began. Small bands of hunters, or single families, established hunting lodges in the hills, usually a far distance from their main settlements. Many families occupied these isolated camps until late December, smoking and drying meat for late winter consumption.
From December until mid-March the settlements in Vernon and Brattleboro were heavily populated. During these months stored foods provided the bulk of the food resources, supplemented with what could be taken by local hunting and ice fishing. With corn, beans and squash contributing a significant portion of the Native American diet, communities were anchored to the lands next to their planting fields in both summer and winter.
Archeological evidence has shown that Indigenous People living along the Connecticut River consumed more plant food than their cousins living along Lake Champlain. On Lake Champlain, the Indigenous diet consisted of more fish and less plants.
According to Thomas, Indigenous villages of approximately five hundred people existed along the Connecticut River and created settlements every twenty five miles or so. Family connections were the driving force within these villages. Families apparently held traditional claims to certain locations on both sides of the Connecticut River for planting fields, foraging wild plants and hunting the transitional lands created on the edge of forests and fields.
Indigenous trade along the Connecticut River was also substantial before Europeans arrived in New England. It was considered transnational as peoples from various Indigenous nations traded up and down the river. Pottery, and other artifacts, from as far south as the Carolinas and as far north as the Newfoundland area of Canada have been found in archeological digs of Indigenous settlements located on the Connecticut River. Trade goods from the Great Lakes have also been recovered in the area.
This story needs to be told. There are still some who remember the old Vermont history books that claimed there were no “Indians” who permanently lived here. Evidence, and the stories of the Indigenous People who remain, speak of another reality. Evidence of Indigenous culture in the Brattleboro area goes back thousands of years.
