Indigenous Enslavement and Afro-Indigenous Intersectionality in New England – Online
Indigenous Enslavement and Afro-Indigenous Intersectionality in New England – Online
Join us for this eye-opening online talk with Aquinnah Wampanoag educator Brad Lopes. The area commonly known as New England today is often associated with freedom, abolition, and low rates of reliance on the labor of enslaved people. During this talk, we will examine a more complex reality, focusing on the enslavement of Indigenous people in the region as a strategy for financing voyages, as punishment, and as a system enacted in both Europe and the colonies.
Men, women, and children were kidnapped and forced into emerging colonial networks dependent on enslaved labor. This talk explores pivotal turning points in this history, from early contact through the period of the Fugitive Slave Acts, and examines how Indigenous people came to be viewed as commodities or chattel property. In this process, many Indigenous communities also became places of refuge for African Americans fleeing oppression and enslavement, leading to family bonds and Afro-Indigenous identities that are honored and celebrated today.
Bio: Brad Lopes is an Aquinnah Wampanoag citizen and life-long educator currently working within the traditional homelands of his people, the Wampanoag Nation. He currently serves as the Education Manager for the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Education Department (TED) and as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Aquinnah Cultural Center, an Aquinnah Wampanoag led museum located on Nôepe (Martha’s Vineyard).
[Please note: This is an online program]
Admission: $10 per participant. Registered attendees will receive a link to join by email before the program begins.
DETAILS
| Date | March 10, 2026 |
|---|---|
| From | 5:00 pm |
| To | 6:00 pm |
| Type | Talk |
| Venue | Live on Zoom |