It seems like yesterday, when on a beautiful November morning a huge and handsome Indian Chief named Silver Star, came to our classroom to give a talk,” recalls Charles “Bud” Thompson, owner and co-founder with wife Nancy, of the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Education and Cultural Center (MKIM). “In a few minutes time, the Chief had the entire class in the palm of his hand, as we were just about hypnotized,” says Thompson.
As a second grader at the Atlantic Avenue School in Pawtuxet, RI, Thompson sat awe-struck as Silver Star instructed the class to form a circle. “He told us how the circle connected us to everything in life: the Creator, the earth, and each other,” recalls Thompson. He told us that the Creator had given each of us a special gift called talent, and that when we discovered that talent we should work to develop it. He told us that in so doing each of us would someday leave this earth a more beautiful, peaceful and loving place. Silver Star also said that each of us were very special people, and that if we did what he asked, he would someday read about us and be very proud. He asked us to make that promise to him. That was 73 years ago.
That promise was kept alive when the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum opened its doors in June of 1991, with a formal dedication to Chief Sachem Silver Star. Nestled in the foothills of scenic Warner, New Hampshire, the museum has reached close to a quarter of a million people, bringing to life Silver Star’s sentiments that he so unselfishly shared. Before retiring to open the museum, Thompson had been a folk singer as a young man and on his travels he collected artifacts and learned as much as he could about American Indians. He also observed how industrial pollution and strip-mining were devastating the earth.
“The museum is far more than a collection of artifacts,” Thompson says. “It is about saving indigenous seeds, about woods and fields that are alive with life, about bio-diversity and alternative foods used by Indian people for centuries. It is about helping children at risk reconnect with the earth – it is all these things that MKIM provides for the public.”
Among the many programs MKIM offers are: the annual powwow, a Harvest Moon Festival, a special celebration preceding the Christmas season, and many lectures and workshops that are held throughout the year. The museum is a place that unites people and as The Concord Monitor newspaper recently reported, it is a “tranquillity zone.”
“We believe it is a small oasis of peace, where the visitor can find a harmonious environment,” says Thompson, who believes that it will be American Indians who will someday step forward and assume leadership to effect the healing of the earth. Thompson, who just turned 80, remains a visible and vibrant part of the museum’s everyday operations. This past fall he saw his saga come full circle, when the tribal elders from the Mashantucket Pequot Nation came to visit. To his glorious surprise, seated amongst the audience were the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Silver Star. To this day, Thompson says Silver Star was one of the most charismatic and spiritual people he has ever met.
The museum is open every day from May to October, Monday through Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday from noon to 5. The web site, www.indianmuseum.org, includes an e-mail link to contact the museum.
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