History, Tradition, Performance
- M Bruchac Home Page
- Biographical Info
- Academic Resume
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- Conference Papers
- Colloquia, Symposia
- Media Interviews
- Teacher Workshops
- Books and Recordings
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- Molly, Indian Doctress
- Recent Performances
- Hand in Hand
- Hand in Hand Venues
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- Kennick Woodcraft
- J Kennick Home Page
Biographical Info for Margaret M. Bruchac
Dr. Margaret (Marge) Bruchac, of Abenaki Indian descent, is a
scholar and historical consultant specializing in museum anthropology, historical interpretation, and cultural performance, with a focus on representations of northeastern Native American Indian
peoples from the colonial era to the present.
Current Research: Check out "On the Wampum Trail" for reports on Bruchac's restorative research, tracking the circulation of wampum belts in museum collections to recover cultural patrimony.
Recent Interviews:
2014 "Penn's Margaret Bruchac Uses Unique Approach to Identify Native American Objects." Penn News. June 16, 2014.
2012 "Consorting With Savages: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists." Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research.
2009 Interview for The Forgotten War: The Struggle for North America. Plattsburgh, NY: Mountain Lake Broadcasting.
Current Research: Check out "On the Wampum Trail" for reports on Bruchac's restorative research, tracking the circulation of wampum belts in museum collections to recover cultural patrimony.
Recent Interviews:
2014 "Penn's Margaret Bruchac Uses Unique Approach to Identify Native American Objects." Penn News. June 16, 2014.
2012 "Consorting With Savages: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists." Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research.
2009 Interview for The Forgotten War: The Struggle for North America. Plattsburgh, NY: Mountain Lake Broadcasting.
2008 Interview with J. Kehaulani Kauanui for "The Politics of the NAGPRA in New England." January 29, 2008 episode of "Indigenous Politics: Native New England and Beyond. Middletown, CT: WESU Radio.
Research & Teaching: Dr. Bruchac is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Coordinator of the Native American & Indigenous Studies Initiative at Penn. From 2008-2012, she was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on Native American history and material culture; cultural property and repatriation; ethnographic practice and museum representation; colonial encounters and transculturalism; cultural performance and oral traditions; and Indigenous archaeologies.
Awards and Fellowships: In 2018, Bruchac's book--Savage Kin: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists -- was selected as the winner of the first Council for Museum Anthropology book award. In 2016-2017, she was awarded a fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Woodrow Wilson Foundation. During 2011-2012, she was in residence at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, NM, with the support of both a Ford Fellowship and the SAR Katrin H. Lamon Fellowship. In 2006-2007, Bruchac was a Visiting Indigenous Fellow at Harvard University. In 2006, her children's book Malian's Song won the American Folklore Society's "Aesop Award."
Research & Teaching: Dr. Bruchac is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Coordinator of the Native American & Indigenous Studies Initiative at Penn. From 2008-2012, she was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on Native American history and material culture; cultural property and repatriation; ethnographic practice and museum representation; colonial encounters and transculturalism; cultural performance and oral traditions; and Indigenous archaeologies.
Awards and Fellowships: In 2018, Bruchac's book--Savage Kin: Indigenous Informants and American Anthropologists -- was selected as the winner of the first Council for Museum Anthropology book award. In 2016-2017, she was awarded a fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Woodrow Wilson Foundation. During 2011-2012, she was in residence at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, NM, with the support of both a Ford Fellowship and the SAR Katrin H. Lamon Fellowship. In 2006-2007, Bruchac was a Visiting Indigenous Fellow at Harvard University. In 2006, her children's book Malian's Song won the American Folklore Society's "Aesop Award."
Museum Consulting: Dr. Bruchac has been a professional museum consultant since 1997. She has designed and presented performance programs, walking tours, and teacher workshops, and consulted on exhibitions for the Adirondack Museum, Historic Deerfield, Penn Museum, Plimoth Plantation, and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, among others. In 2001, her work as "Molly Geet, the Indian Doctress" at Old Sturbridge Village was profiled by Howard Mansfield for Yankee magazine in the article: “I Still Live: the Survival of New England’s Native Tribes.”
Performance: Marge occasionally performs traditional and contemporary Abenaki songs, stories, and dances, solo or in a group with “Hand in Hand,” “The Dawnland Singers,” or “The W’Abenaki Dancers.” She has been a featured performer 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 many other venues.
Community Service: Dr. Bruchac's volunteer museum service includes positions as Advisor to the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation (1998-2009), Trustee for Plimoth Plantation (2007-2010), Trustee for Fort Ticonderoga (2004-2007), and Trustee for Historic Northampton (1998-2009).
Performance: Marge occasionally performs traditional and contemporary Abenaki songs, stories, and dances, solo or in a group with “Hand in Hand,” “The Dawnland Singers,” or “The W’Abenaki Dancers.” She has been a featured performer 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 many other venues.
Community Service: Dr. Bruchac's volunteer museum service includes positions as Advisor to the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation (1998-2009), Trustee for Plimoth Plantation (2007-2010), Trustee for Fort Ticonderoga (2004-2007), and Trustee for Historic Northampton (1998-2009).
Professional Service: Bruchac was a member of the Five College Native American Indian Studies Curriculum Committee from 1995-2008. From 2003-2009, she served as the Repatriation Research Liaison for Amherst College and Smith College. She is a member of the Indigenous Advisory Board for the World Archaeological Congress. From 2009-2016, Dr. Bruchac served as elected Secretary to the Council for Museum Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association.
All text and photographs copyright 2008 by Margaret M. Bruchac and Justin H. Kennick. All rights reserved.
