History, Tradition, Performance
Margaret M. Bruchac, Ph.D. - Biographical Information
Dr. Margaret (Marge) Bruchac, of Abenaki Indian descent, is a scholar, performer, and historical consultant who specializes in interpretations and representations of northeastern Native American Indian peoples, from the colonial era to the present.
Museum Consulting: Dr. Bruchac has been a professional museum consultant since 1997. She has designed and presented performance programs, walking tours, teacher workshops, etc. for the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and Historic Deerfield, and consulted on exhibitions for the Robert Abbe Museum, Peabody Museum at Phillips Academy, and Plimoth Plantation, among others. In 2001, her work as "Molly Geet, the Indian Doctress" at Old Sturbridge Village was profiled by “Yankee” magazine in the article: “I Still Live: the Survival of New England’s Native Tribes.”
Research & Teaching: Dr. Bruchac is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous Studies at the UConn Avery Point campus. Her research and teaching interests include: Indigenous history and traditional knowledge; cultural property; repatriation; language and oral tradition; colonial encounters; ethnobotany; cultural performance; Indigenous archaeologies; decolonizing methodologies; survivance; and museum anthropology. She has taught as Adjunct Faculty at Amherst College, Keene State College, the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Smith College, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Awards & Fellowships: The Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers recognized Bruchac as "Storyteller of the Year" for performance in 2000, and "Writer of the Year" for historical and academic writing in 2002 and 2004. She received two Graduate School Fellowships from the University of Massachusetts in 2002-2004. In 2004-2005, she was a Five College Fellow at Amherst College. In 2006, Marge's children's book, Malian's Song, won the American Folklore Society's "Aesop Award." In 2006-2007, she was a Visiting Indigenous Fellow at Harvard University.
Performance: Marge performs traditional and contemporary Abenaki songs, stories, and dances with “Hand in Hand,” “The Dawnland Singers,” and “The W’Abenaki Dancers.” She also offers solo lectures and performances for schools, museums, historical societies, folk festivals, etc., drawing from a repertoire that includes historical anecdotes, traditional stories, and original music. Bruchac has been featured at the First Nations Festival, Keepers of the Word, Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Lake Champlain Festival, Missisquoi Abenaki Pow Wow, Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival, Old Songs Festival, and hundreds of other venues, including two tours in the Netherlands and Germany.
Community Service: Bruchac's voluntary museum service includes positions as an Advisor to the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth (1998-2009), Trustee for Plimoth Plantation (2007-2010), Trustee for Fort Ticonderoga (2004-2007), and Trustee for Historic Northampton (1998-2010).
Professional Service: Bruchac was a member of the Five College Native American Indian Studies Curriculum Committee for 13 years (1995-2008). Since 2003, Bruchac has served as the Repatriation Research Liaison for the Five College Repatriation Committee. She is a member of the Indigenous Archaeology Advisory Board for the World Archaeological Congress. In 2009, she was elected Secretary to the Council for Museum Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association.
Museum Consulting: Dr. Bruchac has been a professional museum consultant since 1997. She has designed and presented performance programs, walking tours, teacher workshops, etc. for the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and Historic Deerfield, and consulted on exhibitions for the Robert Abbe Museum, Peabody Museum at Phillips Academy, and Plimoth Plantation, among others. In 2001, her work as "Molly Geet, the Indian Doctress" at Old Sturbridge Village was profiled by “Yankee” magazine in the article: “I Still Live: the Survival of New England’s Native Tribes.”
Research & Teaching: Dr. Bruchac is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous Studies at the UConn Avery Point campus. Her research and teaching interests include: Indigenous history and traditional knowledge; cultural property; repatriation; language and oral tradition; colonial encounters; ethnobotany; cultural performance; Indigenous archaeologies; decolonizing methodologies; survivance; and museum anthropology. She has taught as Adjunct Faculty at Amherst College, Keene State College, the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Smith College, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Awards & Fellowships: The Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers recognized Bruchac as "Storyteller of the Year" for performance in 2000, and "Writer of the Year" for historical and academic writing in 2002 and 2004. She received two Graduate School Fellowships from the University of Massachusetts in 2002-2004. In 2004-2005, she was a Five College Fellow at Amherst College. In 2006, Marge's children's book, Malian's Song, won the American Folklore Society's "Aesop Award." In 2006-2007, she was a Visiting Indigenous Fellow at Harvard University.
Performance: Marge performs traditional and contemporary Abenaki songs, stories, and dances with “Hand in Hand,” “The Dawnland Singers,” and “The W’Abenaki Dancers.” She also offers solo lectures and performances for schools, museums, historical societies, folk festivals, etc., drawing from a repertoire that includes historical anecdotes, traditional stories, and original music. Bruchac has been featured at the First Nations Festival, Keepers of the Word, Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Lake Champlain Festival, Missisquoi Abenaki Pow Wow, Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival, Old Songs Festival, and hundreds of other venues, including two tours in the Netherlands and Germany.
Community Service: Bruchac's voluntary museum service includes positions as an Advisor to the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth (1998-2009), Trustee for Plimoth Plantation (2007-2010), Trustee for Fort Ticonderoga (2004-2007), and Trustee for Historic Northampton (1998-2010).
Professional Service: Bruchac was a member of the Five College Native American Indian Studies Curriculum Committee for 13 years (1995-2008). Since 2003, Bruchac has served as the Repatriation Research Liaison for the Five College Repatriation Committee. She is a member of the Indigenous Archaeology Advisory Board for the World Archaeological Congress. In 2009, she was elected Secretary to the Council for Museum Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association.
