Indigenous and Black Narratives at Mystic Seaport Museum

“Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty and the Sea” at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut delves into Indigenous and African connections to the waterways of New England. This exhibition encourages visitors to reconsider history, water, and spirituality.

Walking through the exhibition, one can sense the cyclical nature of time. “Everything cycles and has a birth, a life, a death and a rebirth, as do our histories,” remarked curator Akeia de Barros Gomes.

The show features “belongings” from Indigenous and African communities, dating back 2500 years. These items highlight maritime navigation skills and spiritual ties to the ocean from both sides of the Atlantic.

“For the last 500 years, colonialism, slavery, and dispossession have significantly impacted our histories,” said de Barros Gomes. However, African and Indigenous maritime histories in Dawnland (New England) stretch back over 12,000 years.

Mystic Seaport Museum, established in 1929, aims to conserve America’s seafaring past. While visitors can explore a 19th-century coastal village and a wooden whaling ship, Black and Indigenous maritime stories were often overlooked. Inside the gallery, de Barros Gomes highlights an ancient ceramic cooking pot, partially broken. “We are going to continue to do the work until the vessel is whole and holds water once more,” she said.

The exhibit showcases a brightly painted dugout canoe, traditional masks and jewelry, and a first edition of the Eliot Bible translated into the Algonquin language. Wampum beads from the Pequot Massacre of 1637 are also on display.

Steven Peters, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, emphasized that Mystic Seaport Museum stands on ancestral indigenous land. “There was a lot of healing required before communities felt comfortable sharing in these spaces,” he noted. Tribes sought assurance that their stories of resilience would accompany the difficult history.

Peters and de Barros Gomes spent nearly two years collaborating with Native and Black communities in New England to shape the exhibit’s content. “It had to be both African and Indigenous communities that were saying, ‘Here’s the story that we want to tell,’” Peters stated.

This collaboration was unprecedented for Mystic Seaport, according to Elysa Engelman, the museum’s Director of Research and Scholarship. “It’s the first time an outside committee was responsible for the content, serving as the voice of the exhibit,” said Engelman.

Anika Lopes, an advisor with ancestry linked to enslaved Africans and the Niantic tribe, stressed the importance of foundational involvement. “Who is at the table and engaged in discussions from the start is crucial,” she explained.

Outside the gallery, visitor Susie Gagne noted that ‘Entwined’ enhances Mystic Seaport. She appreciated how the exhibition’s language was written from the perspectives of the groups it represents.

Inside, de Barros Gomes guided through darkened rooms. First, an attic space with ship carvings and spiritual objects from enslaved Africans; then, an Indigenous hut called a Wetu. Finally, she led to a bright contemporary space showcasing art from current Native American and Black artists, featuring paintings, sculptures, and traditional clothing.

“Art that speaks to contemporary artists reclaiming their ancestry and ancestral stories,” de Barros Gomes described.

For too long, others dictated America’s maritime history. ‘Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty and the Sea’ aims to change that narrative.

Source: Connecticut Public Radio