Indigenous Language Reclamation & Regional History Lecture With Jesse Bruchac At Pitney Meadows Community Farm!
This October, Pitney Meadows Community Farm, in partnership with the Ndakinna Education Center, will host a special evening lecture that brings language, culture, and history to life. On Thursday, October 2nd, from 6:00–7:00pm, renowned storyteller, musician, and language scholar Jesse Bruchac will lead “Art of Remembering: Indigenous Language Reclamation & Regional History” at Pitney Meadows Community Farm. Sign up now!
This event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the leading voices in the revitalization of Algonquian languages. For more than four decades, Bruchac has worked to reclaim and strengthen Indigenous languages, teaching and preserving knowledge that spans generations. His journey has taken him from communities across the Northeast to projects across the U.S. and Canada, and into the world of film and television, where he has served as a language consultant for acclaimed productions such as Turn and Jamestown.
At Pitney Meadows, Bruchac will weave together personal stories, historical insight, and reflections from his lifelong work in education and cultural preservation. His lecture will explore how language is more than a tool of communication—it is a vessel of memory, identity, and resilience. Attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of the ties between Indigenous language reclamation and regional history, and how these connections shape both the past and present.
“Jesse Bruchac’s work reminds us that the land holds memory—that every plant, every word, every song is part of a living history,” says Brooke McConnell, Executive Director of Pitney Meadows Community Farm. “It’s a privilege to partner with the Ndakinna Education Center to bring these offerings to our community, and to learn from Jesse’s knowledge, creativity, and deep-rooted connection to this place.”
Bruchac, a citizen of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation, is the founder and director of The Abenaki Language School at Middlebury College and the Assistant Director of the Ndakinna Education Center. He has dedicated his life to teaching, sharing, and creating spaces for Indigenous knowledge systems to thrive. His work bridges generations and disciplines, whether through the classroom, the stage, or the screen, bringing both urgency and hope to the effort of cultural reclamation.
"Language reclamation is not just about the past, it is about the future” says Jesse Bruchac. “By revitalizing these words, we ensure that generations to come can inherit not only a language, but the worldview, values, and knowledge that it carries."
This lecture is free and open to the public. Community members of all ages are welcome to attend. The revitalization of language is the revitalization of culture, identity, and spirit. On October 2nd, Jesse Bruchac will remind us that what is remembered can never be lost—and what we carry forward has the power to shape generations to come. Sign up now!
Supported with funding from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) and New York's Environmental Protection Fund. The NYSCPP is administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.