Isabel Cole - Intern Introduction

Hello, my name is Isabel Cole and I am going to be an intern at Strawbery Banke this fall. I am currently a Junior at UNH majoring in sustainable agriculture and food systems and minoring in history and Native American and Indigenous studies. At school I am part of INHCC, the organic garden club, ultimate frisbee, Planned Parenthood, and I get to volunteer at GATHER.

Some of the things I am really passionate about are historical horticulture, ethnobotany, and food sovereignty issues. I love the combination of history and Indigenous studies because there is so much to learn from the past, as well as modern day local communities, about land stewardship and how to address the environmental and social issues of today. I have explored these topics with my project on Abenaki seeds which is published on INHCC, my classes, and my work with Abenaki elders as part of INHCC. I am really excited to be working this fall at Strawbery Banke because of the People of the Dawnland exhibit and the new Abenaki garden, which are great spaces to pursue these passions and continue my work in this field.

Over the past two summers I have worked at Plimoth Patuxet (formerly Plimoth Plantation) as the horticulture intern and as an interpreter on the Patuxet Wampanoag homesite. I learned so much about local Indigenous and colonial history and got some hands-on experience cooking traditional Wampanoag food, making corn husk dolls, and caring for the garden of corn, beans, and squash. I am excited to be a part of taking what I learned there and growing Strawbery Banke’s Dawnland exhibit and gardens to better share the stories of stewardship by the Penacook, Abenaki, and Wabanaki people, past and present.

I hope to build my skills during this internship by analyzing and interpreting archaeological seed remains and pollen from the Sherburne site, working and doing projects with the Abenaki garden, and helping with Dawnland StoryFest. I am looking forward to an awesome fall season at the museum!