Drew Lopenzina "William Apess, A Native Son of Western Massachusetts"

We Are Still Here:
Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast

2022 University Days

Present:

Professor Drew Lopenzina

William Apess, A Native Son of Western Massachusetts

Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00 pm EDT

Free Online via Zoom

The life of William Apess (1798–1839), a Pequot Indian, Methodist preacher, and widely celebrated writer, provides a lens through which to comprehend the complex dynamics of Indigenous survival and resistance in the era of America's early nationhood. Apess's life intersects with multiple aspects of Indigenous identity and existence in this period, including indentured servitude, slavery, service in the armed forces, syncretic engagements with Christian spirituality, and Native struggles for political and cultural autonomy.

Even more, Apess offers a powerful and provocative voice for the persistence of Native presence in a time and place that was long supposed to have settled its "Indian question" in favor of extinction.

Drew Lopenzina is a Professor of English at Old Dominion University who teaches in the intersections of Early American and Native American literatures. He is the author of three books, The Routledge Introduction to Native American Literature (Routledge Press 2020), Through an Indian’s Looking Glass: A Cultural Biography of William Apess, Pequot (University of Massachusetts Press 2017), and Red Ink: Native Americans Picking up the Pen in the Colonial Period (SUNY Press 2012). Through an Indian’s Looking Glass has been described by the journal Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) as a “tour de force.” Although he currently lives in Norfolk, Virginia, Lopenzina hails from Pittsfield and is a graduate of Berkshire Community College, Class of 1987. His studies focus on the presence of Indigenous peoples in the colonial Northeast. 

Learn more about University Days 2022: We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast. Lectures, art shows, walking tours and more!

 Pre-registration is required.Register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9:00 am - 4:00 pm) to register by phone with a credit card.

Learning about the United State’s Native American Heritage is vital to weaving a more equitable social fabric for everyone. If you would like to contribute to our continuing work towards this goal click here to make a contribution to OLLI’s Northeast Indigenous Initiative, found in the “Designation” drop down menu.

We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast is supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the local cultural councils of Alford-Egremont, Dalton, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Mount Washington, North Berkshire, Otis, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Sheffield and Stockbridge and with in-kind support and partnership from Berkshire Community College.