NEW HAVEN – All are invited to take part in a social Saturday of the Connecticut Native American Inter-Tribal Urban Council, which will announce scholarships and feature a talk by noted wampum historian Allen L. Hazard.


A pot luck, in keeping with Native American tradition, will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Engleman Hall on the Southern Connecticut State University campus. Those who attend are asked to bring a dish of their choice, as when Native Americans gathered the tradition was to bring an offering of whatever crop or food product they helped produce, said James E. Rawlings, a leader in the group.

The council, growing fast with members who have Native American roots, is currently looking for a location in which to open a cultural center.

Hazard, a member of the Narragansett Tribe, works to preserve the history of making wampum.

Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America.


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