Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel: Up and Down the River: A Mohegan History Film for America 250 at Lyman Allyn Museum

This year’s theme is Freedom: The Victories, Promises, and Potentials of 1776. The speakers will explore the meaning of freedom in America, examining its historical implications for various segments of society, all from a local perspective.

The plot of Up and Down the River follows the challenges faced by the Mohegan people, especially tribal women, living along the Massapequotuck (now called Thames) as they navigate the Revolutionary era and beyond. This story also honors Samuel Ashbow Jr., the first Native American soldier to die fighting for our new nation in June 1775 at Bunker Hill.