Quinnetukut: Stories of Survival at Historic Pardee-Morris House

New Haven, Conn. (April 21, 2025) – Native American educator and storyteller Darlene Kascak, a member of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, will bring a big bag of artifacts for visitors to explore during a hands-on history experience, "Quinnetukut: Stories of Survival,” at the historic Pardee-Morris House. The free, all-ages NH250 event will take place on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at 2 p.m. (Rain date: Sunday, August 24, 2025). Register here.

Kascak is the educational outreach ambassador and traditional Native American storyteller at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, Connecticut. At PMH, she will shed light on the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding her ancestors using artifacts and other cultural items that demonstrate how Indigenous people live a sustainable lifestyle.

Among the treasures Kascak will bring are beaver, bear, raccoon, and skunk furs; deer hide; a turtle shell used as both calendar and bowl; tools made from bone; gourd rattles; a replicated Native American longhouse model; stone tools, and more. She notes, “Our culture believes that all living beings are equal and possess the same rights as humans. When we take an animal or plant's life for sustenance, we honor and respect this gift by utilizing everything possible, ensuring nothing is wasted.”

The word Connecticut comes from an Algonquian Indian term Quinnehtukqut, meaning “land on and beside the long tidal river.” The state’s five recognized tribes have lived on the region for over 12,000-years yet little is known about them, Kascak says. The program’s exploration of pre-and post-contact history from multiple perspectives will provide a fresh understanding of the history of Connecticut, she says. “Much of what we learn about Connecticut’s past comes from a colonized perspective that has almost completely left out the voices of the Indigenous People.”

Kuscak also explains that Native American tribes did not own the land but acted as stewards, responsibly sharing its resources within our communities. “Our societies had sophisticated systems of government that are considered among the oldest participatory democracies in the world,” she says. “In fact, this governing system inspired the American Constitution.”