Anne DiMonti, Director of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island Nature Center and Aquarium in Bristol, RI, invited Dr. David Weed to give a talk on Native and colonial history of the area on October 11, 2019. Dr. Weed took the audience back to the 17th century when enormous changes took place involving the encounter between the native Pokanoket Tribe and the English colonists starting in 1620. He talked about how he began his investigation into the historical transformation of the Sowam Heritage Area with the reburial of the Massasoit Osamequin in Burr’s Hill Park behind his house in 2017 in Warren, RI. He then went on to describe how the end of King Philip’s War in 1675-76 led to an attempt to expel the Pokanoket Tribe from the area, but they have since returned and continue to live in the area nearby. Weed is working to develop a National Heritage Area from Providence to Bristol describing local 17th century history that could someday receive federal support just like the Blackstone River Heritage Corridor receives today. Click here for a 50-minute video of Dr. Weed’s presentation.