Today, most tourists visiting the local region see the Sonoma County coastline as a place of isolated and unspoiled natural beauty at the very edge of the North American continent. But the history of that place tells a very different story. Our coast has been home to a diverse range of communities who have made their living from the sea, from the earliest ancestral Pomo peoples to a succession of Russian, Spanish, Mexican, and American peoples. These communities saw the sea not as a boundary to their worlds and livelihoods, but as a freeway for commerce, trade, and long-distance community-building.
Over time, these Sonoma coastal maritime communities became part of a vast network of other, similar communities, all of whom were shaped by their connections to the sea. This presentation explores what we know about that broader world of Pacific maritime communities, and how our local places participated in the sea-oriented way of life.
Dr. Margaret Purser received her BA from the College of William and Mary, and her PhD in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. She is a Professor of Anthropology at Sonoma State University and teachers courses in Historical Archaeology and Material Culture. For over a decade she participated in a series of “Teaching American History” grants with an interdisciplinary team of historians and education specialists beginning in 2004. One of her current interests is in community-based heritage projects and using new digital technologies to capture and convey information about how people are connected to place and to the past.
Doors open at 6:30pm, the TALK begins at 7:00pm.
Members are free; Non-Member tickets are $10 prepaid or $15 at the door; Student with ID is $5. Preregistration ends at 5pm on the day of the program.
Sponsor receives 2 tickets for the event, and recognition in the Museum’s marketing materials. Sponsorships are fully tax deductible.
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Museum of Sonoma County
425 7th St
- Santa Rosa