The Haffenreffer Museum is proud to introduce a new virtual teaching resource for PreK-12 educators. This Land is Home: A Seasonal Round in Native New England is a self-paced, virtual learning module that explores how the seasons shape traditional and contemporary Indigenous lifeways in New England. This is a free resource that takes approximately 1 hour to complete, and although it is designed primarily for 3rd-5th grade students, it is an engaging learning experience for students of all ages. 

At the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, we believe that learning directly from Native and Indigenous people is the best way to learn about Native and Indigenous cultures. This Land is Home was developed by a Native person to lead students directly to the voices and perspectives of Native and Indigenous people. Students will learn about different cultural practices directly from a first-person, Native perspective, practice new vocabulary in English and Algonquian, analyze and interpret objects from the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology’s collections, reflect upon their own relationship with nature, and identify similarities and differences between their own cultural seasonal activities and those of historical and contemporary Native people. 

While we remain unable to visit classrooms due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are continuing to develop resources to support teachers and students at Brown and within our community. This Land is Home was developed by the Haffenreffer Museum’s Community Engagement Specialist Leah Hopkins (Narragansett) and Manager of Museum Programs and Education Leah Burgin.