Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.794.1c, Connecticut Historical…

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Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.794.2c, Connecticut Historical…

Interview with Trudie Lamb Richmond

IntervieweeInterview with Trudie Lamb Richmond Schaghticoke, 1931 - 2021

InterviewerInterviewed by Lynne Williamson

Date1991

Mediumreformatted digital file from audio cassette

DimensionsDuration (tape 1, side 1): 47 Minutes, 21 Seconds
Duration (tape 1, side 2): 47 Minutes, 42 Seconds
Duration (tape 2, side 1): 47 Minutes, 4 Seconds
Duration (tape 2, side 2): 12 Minutes, 2 Seconds
Duration (total runtime): 2 Hours, 34 Minutes, 26 Seconds

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

DescriptionTwo audio cassette tape recordings of an interview with Trudie Lamb Richmond. She was interviewed by Lynne Williamson on February 5, 1991, February 26, 1991, and March 5, 1991. Tape 1 was recorded on Februrary 26, 1991 and March 5, 1991. Tape 2 was recorded on March 5, 1991 and February 5, 1991. The interview was recorded as part of a Native American Elders from Connecticut project with the American Indian Archaeology Institute (now known as the Institute for American Indian Studies) in Washington, Connecticut.

2015.196.794.1a-d: tape 1 two digital files, tape information sheet, and cassette tape
2015.196.794.2a-d: tape 2 two digital files, tape information sheet, and cassette tape

Object number2015.196.794.1-.2

CopyrightIn Copyright

NotesBiographical Note: Trudie Lamb Richmond (1931-2021), Kekiokwashawe, was a highly respected carrier of native culture in Connecticut, coming from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, one of five Indian tribes in the state. She co-founded in 1974 and served as Assistant Director of the American Indians for Development in Meriden, Conn. until 1986. Her work there included a statewide census of Native people in Connecticut and a conference for Native youth in southern New England that was co-sponsored by Yale University.

A graduate of Long Island University with a master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut and a master’s in Education from the Bank Street College of Education, Trudie wrote, edited and served as a consultant for numerous publications and educational projects and exhibits, including “Perspectives: Authentic Voices of Native Americans” (Curriculum Associates, Inc. 1996;) “The Spirit of the Drum” (Cobblestone Publishers for the American Museum of Natural History, 1986); and “Local Struggle and Native Women’s Resistance in Colonial Southern New England” published in “Interpreting New England Indians and the Colonial Experience” edited by Colin G. Calloway & Neal Salisbury, 2003.

She served on several boards and committees over decades of community service. In 1987 Connecticut Governor William O’Neill appointed her to a task force on Native American issues and she was a member of the Connecticut Indian Affairs Council from 1974 to 1985 and later the state’s Native American Heritage Committee. Among other organizations she advised were the New England Museums Association, the Plimoth Plantation Native American Advisory Board, and the Mohegan Nation. Trudie held the position of Tribal Chair of the Schaghticoke Tribal nation for several years and was also a longtime member of the Schaghticoke Preservation Heritage Committee, whose mission was to strengthen her people’s relationship to the land.

Trudie was an accomplished storyteller, having learned many New England Algonkian stories from elders and tradition bearers around the region over many years. Trudie’s method of storytelling was not the theatrical kind; she used her soft voice and deep experience of Indian life and culture to entrance and educate her listeners. Trudie’s skills as a traditional storyteller led to her selection as a Master Teaching Artist by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Arts Division, and she performed all over the Northeast as well as at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC. Trudie’s educational work included speaking to thousands of schoolchildren across Connecticut and New England, providing them with information and insight into the values, history, and creativity of Native peoples. She collaborated with other educators, curriculum experts, scholars, and with the State Department of Education to improve the presentation of Native cultures in lesson plans and recommended texts. Trudie taught at several Connecticut universities, and served as Director of Education at the Institute for American Indian Studies, and Director of Education and Public Programs at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, responsible for the Museum’s extensive roster of performances, workshops, tours, and public events. At IAIS, Trudie was part of an interdisciplinary team that planned and developed an innovative new permanent exhibit titled “As We Tell Our Stories,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1990, that focused on the history and culture of northwestern Connecticut including Schaghticoke. She (along with other Connecticut Indian elders) was interviewed at length and her recorded information was condensed into an audio feature in the exhibit. This exhibit presented oral traditions in an equal place alongside the artifacts of archaeology and the writings of history. Along with her daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter, Trudie participated in the Vermont Folklife Center’s Family Stories, Family Sagas project.

A strong advocate of culturally responsive education as well as experiential learning, Trudie presented at museums, libraries, universities, public and private schools, festivals, community centers. She performed at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. for its opening in 2004, and shared the stage with popular puppeteer/ storyteller Buddy Big Mountain in the Hartford Civic Center at the Mashantucket Pequot Schemitzun Green Corn Festival. She performed at the Saratoga Native American Festival and was also honored by the Ndakinna Education Center, among many others. She collaborated with notable native artists such as Joseph Bruchac, Joanne Shenandoah, and Mohawk clan chiefs Jake Swamp and Tom Porter. She also told stories in more intimate settings, working with kindergartners and college students as well as scout groups. Trudie spent a great deal of time mentoring young people from many of the tribal groups in New England, encouraging them to truly appreciate their heritage and present it to others.

In 2010 the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Institute for Community Research nominated Trudie for the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award from the First Peoples Fund, a prestigious national Native-run cultural service organization. The award recognized her work over five decades to create understanding and appreciation for the traditions and history of Algonkian Indian peoples in southern New England, especially those in Connecticut.

Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this artist and this project.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

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