Praying Town is the story of a brave experiment, a forgotten war, and a historic peace between New World Natives and Old World immigrants. Amid the confusion of colonization, two cultures found a way to live together in harmony and respect in communities that once dotted the landscape of what we now know as New England. They were called Praying Towns.Author L. Gawenase Johnson is a direct descendant of both those who came over on the Mayflower and those who greeted them with mixed reactions. Digging deep into obscure history, she brings to light an all but forgotten story yearning to be told.Working from verifiable historic figures and events, Gawenase weaves the story of Damaris and Jacob, Amie and Tispiquin, King Philip and John Sassamon from the peaceful Praying Town of Namasket, through love, murder, war, and ultimately back to a remarkable peace that lasted for almost one hundred years.Of her work of historical fiction, Gawenase says, "There are shocking, unbelievable moments in the story. Surprisingly, those are all from actual eyewitness accounts. My fiction fills in the day-to-day moments that have been lost to time."
About the Author: Gawenase is a Christian whose mother was full blood Danish. Her father's deep Algonquin and Colonial roots include a Civil war Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, George Washington's drummer boy, six Mayflower passengers, and two connections to Uncas of the Mohegan, as well as original families of Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire. She grew up in the village of Schaghticoke in upstate New York. As a young girl, she became active on the powwow trail. She was given the name "Gawenase" in mid-Winter of 1969 and was adopted Seneca. She is a member of the Coos Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People of the White Pine. She studied art under Tom Two Arrows, Onondaga / Delaware, who created his particular style of Indian Art back in the 1940's. Some of her paintings and craft works are owned by the United States Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board, as well as in private collections. She worked as a park interpreter for the United States Department of the Interior, Historical Parks at Saratoga, NY, The Helderburg Workshop, Guilderland, NY and was a Teaching assistant for Adult classes at Albany State University. On the powwow trail, after moving to the West Coast, she connected with other displaced Eastern Woodland families who have made an earnest effort to keep the Woodland traditions alive. In Eastern Woodland Impressions, she and her friend Monika DeNasha do intricate bead work. Their Motto is: "Preserving the past In the present for the future." She lives with her husband, Roger, on a farm near Puget Sound and at powwow these days, she dances in the women's Golden Age.