Fall Fun Story Walk – “Turtle’s Race with Beaver: A Traditional Seneca Story”
SACKETS HARBOR, NY — A Story Walk at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site brings literature, art, nature, history, and particularly Seneca Nation traditions together on Saturday October 8 for the NYS Path Through History Weekend. Begin your Story Walk loop at the end of West Main Street and receive a “take-and-make” gift, while the supply lasts.
Partnering with the Hay Memorial Library, visitors follow a portion of the historic site’s History Trail reading pages from the featured book “Turtle’s Race with Beaver: A Traditional Seneca Story.”
This charming fable of brains versus brawn, as told by Abenaki father and son team Joseph and James Bruchac, is adapted from Arthur C. Parker’s collection of Seneca legends. Parker, an archaeologist, historian, and museologist, was born in 1881 on the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca Nation of New York. His book “Seneca Myths and Folk Tales” would be a fine follow-up to this immersive experience at the battlefield site.
Adding to this Story Walk experience are many interpretive panels on the trail that tell the story of the 29 May 1813 Second Battle of Sackets Harbor, which included US allies from the Oneida Nation, and on the opposing forces side, Mississauga and Mohawk from Canada.
This autumn’s Story Walk selected book is a traditional story for learning lessons about humility and sharing. Join the historic site and library staff for this engaging autumn event in Sackets Harbor.
