What Are Whales Doing in the Hudson?
A Native American perspective on the Humpback boom

 Thursday, April 20, 7pm

Oak Vino Wine Bar
389 Main St, Beacon 

Evan Pritchard presents an informal multimedia talk at our Eco Café series kickoff, just in time for Earth Day.

Here is Evan's synopsis:

When “Gotham” the humpback whale arrived late last year and danced up and down the Hudson River from the Narrows up to Yonkers for ten days, he got his photo in every major paper. Questions were raised: was he sick? Lost? Mentally ill? No whale had entered the Hudson River since the Revolutionary War. But from the Native American perspective, two hundred forty years is not a lot of time. For ten thousand years the indigenous peoples of this valley have been communicating telepathically with these “super beings” as they swam this very river they both called home. Now it’s time for them to come back. In this highly spiritual and well-researched talk, Mi’kmaq descendant and award-winning historian Evan Pritchard will reveal:

• Evidence for whales in the Hudson before 1776
• The spiritual importance of whales in Algonquin culture
• Seven surprising reasons why natives regard humpbacks and other whales more highly evolved than humans
• The significance of the timing of Gotham’s arrival
• How the presence of whales becomes a wild card in the debate over anchorages in the Hudson
• Other recent whale gatherings worldwide: What are they talking about?
• Ever-increasing whale populations around NYC