TURNERS FALLS — With the annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival, organizers look to blend centuries of Native American history and culture into a weekend of celebration.

The land where the festival will be held on Aug. 3 and 4 holds particular significance. Centuries after 300 Native American women, children and elders were killed in a surprise attack by William Turner and a colonial militia in what is now called the Great Falls Massacre of 1676, a Reconciliation Ceremony was held at Unity Park in 2004, bringing an atmosphere of reverence as the community began to better understand what happened during the massacre and its aftermath.

David Brule, president of the Nolumbeka Project nonprofit that organizes the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival, explained that the past efforts of reconciliation and remembrance have culminated into this festival, which aims to take the decades of grief associated with the area and hold space for celebration of Native American history and culture.

“We really wanted to change the energy,” Brule said. “The first attempt was with the Reconciliation Ceremony in 2004. These small victories, plus the festival, have really been doing just that.”

The Pocumtuck Homelands Festival will be held at Unity Park on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free festival includes presentations and performances showcasing various elements of Native American culture across several tribes. Traditional food and artwork by Indigenous artists will be available for purchase.

The name “Pocumtuck Homelands Festival” is an important part of the celebratory foundation the festival is built on, as the Pocumtuc people’s homeland existed around the falls and extended south.

“It is a spot ... that was stewarded by the Pocumtuc people for well over 10,000 years,” Brule explained. “Their homelands extended from the falls all the way down through Deerfield, well into the vicinity of Sunderland and then south of Sunderland.”

In the spirit of celebration and togetherness, Brule said people representing anywhere between 25 and 30 tribes have attended the festival in previous years, sharing their history and culture with others.

Diane Dix, a longtime organizer of the festival and a founder of the Nolumbeka Project, explained there wasn’t a consistent opportunity to bring people together to recognize the region’s Indigenous history until the inaugural festival was held in 2013.

“We are excited to facilitate another large gathering at the falls where many people will come together to share and celebrate, just as the Pocumtuck and their guests did for thousands of years,” Dix said in a statement.

She noted that this festival is not a traditional pow-wow, though elements of such a celebration are present in the form of traditional drumming groups and Wampanoag singers.

Amalia FourHawks, who creates jewelry and artwork inspired by southwestern jewelry making with turquoise and silver, has sold her jewelry and artwork at the festival for several years and is excited to return again this weekend.

“What I look forward to most is just being there on the riverbank surrounded by other people’s art, the beauty that they bring and having the scenery of the river,” FourHawks said.

She highlighted a presentation by Mohawk elder Tom “Sakokwenionkwas” Porter, which she feels gives attendees a new understanding of Native American culture.

“People are just transfixed with the depth of his explanations of how the universe works and why things work. I’ve seen so many people come away from his talk, just going, ‘Oh, now, now I get it,’” FourHawks said. This year, Porter will speak at 10:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

To open the weekend’s festivities, Brule will be joined on Friday at 11:30 a.m. by around 30 others for a paddle on the Connecticut River starting from Barton Cove. Brule will be on a boat called a “mishoon,” a traditional canoe made out of a white pine log that was used by the Wampanoag for thousands of years. The mishoon is only brought out once a year.

As Brule was born and raised less than 1 mile from the Great Falls Massacre site and less than 1 mile from the site of the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival today, the event holds particular significance to him. Brule agrees with Dix about the educational and community value the festival brings, and he said he’s seen the benefit the festival has brought to Indigenous individuals who can feel the darkness of the land lifting.

“Native people have come and celebrated and enjoyed helping lift the darkness off this site, and I think the whole town has benefited, and certainly the region,” Brule said. “This is a place in our central Connecticut River Valley that is incredibly important, and also the history of what happened here is important for people to know and to be able to collect on and do better.”

For more details on the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival, visit nolumbekaproject.org/events.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.