“The Massachusett tribe at Ponkapoag in collaboration with the Nipmuc and Indigenous people of various nations gathered at the start of Native American Heritage month. On the banks of the Mystic River in Charlestown, they arrived to build community, strengthen tribal bonds, and learn a new yet ancient skill: how to use fire to build a traditional dugout canoe, called a mishoon.”
Thomas Green, Indigenous Artist & Educator of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, left, rakes hot coals while burning a traditional mishoon, or canoe, at the Charlestown Little Mystic Boat Slip. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)Andre Strongbearheart Gaines, Cultural Steward of the Nipmuc Tribe, tends to the fire while burning a traditional mishoon, or canoe, at the Charlestown Little Mystic Boat Slip. It is the first time in many years a mishoon has been made in the city of Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)Jenny Oliver, a member of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, watches the fire while burning a traditional mishoon, or canoe, at the Charlestown Little Mystic Boat Slip. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
