Anne Jennison: Native American Storyteller

As part of this year's Concord Reads programming, Native American storyteller, Anne Jennison, will share stories featuring turtles from Abenaki, Wabanaki, and other Northeast Woodland traditions. Anne Jennison’s performances of traditional Northeast Native American storytelling celebrate the rich and diverse cultural traditions of Native Americans. Anne’s storytelling performances feature stories from Abenaki, Wabanaki, and other Northeast Woodlands Indigenous traditions – and usually begin with a greeting song, creating a sense of community for sharing the storytelling. Anne also teaches a very short traditional Abenaki call-and-response phrase to invite her audience to participate in the storytelling as they listen. Then listeners are taken on a spell-binding & entertaining journey through a series of traditional stories that could explain everything from “How Turtle Flew South for Winter” to “The First Strawberries” to “The Doll With No Face” or “How Hummingbird Put the Stars in the Sky” - and more. Prepare for an interactive storytelling experience filled with humor, drama, and moments of wonder! Anne Jennison is a traditional Native American storyteller with both European and Abenaki heritage. Anne's storytelling skills have been polished by more than 30 years of experience sharing Indigenous lesson stories with audiences of all kinds. With master's degrees in both Storytelling and History, Anne also brings a wealth of cultural and historical knowledge to enrich her retelling of timeless Northeast Woodlands Native American stories. Anne is listed on the New England Artist Roster as both a Touring Artist and a Teaching Artist as well as on the New Hampshire Traditional Artists Roster as a traditional Native American storyteller. When not giving traditional Northeast Native American storytelling performances or Abenaki/Wabanaki history lectures, Anne has served as Chair for the NH Commission on Native American Affairs and is currently a member of the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective. Additionally, Anne is an affiliate faculty member for the University of New Hampshire Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) Minor and a co-creator of the "People of the Dawnland" interpretive exhibit about the Abenaki/Wabanaki peoples and a continuing consultant for the Abenaki Heritage Initiative at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. For more details: https://www.annejennison.com