Biography
The community leader and healer Martha Morits was born into an old Missisquoi family, married John Lampman, a man from another Abenaki leadership line, and built a small house and barn in the marsh during the late 1800’s. Families would come together in this area known as Maquam (named for the active beavers that share this environment) to fish the Bay in the spring, to gather berries and medicinal plants during summer, and to hunt and trap the abundant game animals in the fall and winter. Often, they would camp the whole summer there, making trips into the village to sell their surplus gatherings.
Always, there was dancing, singing, and storytelling at Grandma Lampman’s. Here, families were
sustained. Far into the twentieth century, the Lampmans and their relations lived in and around the marsh, learning and living from the bountiful resources of Maquam.
In 1991, Abenaki community members organized to save the area in Swanton where Grandma Lampman had lived. It was owned by a developer who had plans for building houses on the land, so the group got the area designated as an official Wildlife Refuge. Maquam Wildlife Refuge also includes sacred burial sites. A plaque serves as a marker of the location where Lampman's house once stood.Occupation
Teacher
Healer