Brooke Toczylowski

Cotton Hollow is a nature preserve in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. Before white settlers arrived it was the winter home of the Nayaug, a tribe of the Wangunk, part of the Algonquin federation. When colonists moved in, they harnessed—for 200 years—the power of the water in service of multiple industries (anchor works, lumber yard, cotton mill, gun powder factory, and more), forever altering the landscape. In 1636, English settlers came across the Connecticut river and purportedly made an agreement with the local sachem, Sowheag, to use the land. Thirty-five years later, in 1671, a deed was written, effectively trading the town of Glastonbury, approximately 50 square miles today, for twelve yards of trading cloth. The audio consists of recordings from Roaring Brook in Cotton Hollow as well as the artist reading parts of the 1671 confirmatory deed.