HATFIELD — Indigenous medicine in western Massachusetts in the 19th century and the practice of individuals such as Huntington’s Rhoda Rhoades, known as “the Indian Doctress,” will be the subject of a Hatfield Historical Society presentation on Thursday, June 19.

Margaret “Marge” Bruchac, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania who is also a performer and historical consultant, will speak at the program, taking place at the Congregational Church, 41 Main St, at 6 p.m.

Funded in part by a grant from the Hatfield Cultural Council, Bruchac, of Abenaki Indian descent, will talk about her research into Rhoades, who used medicinal roots and herbs to create remedies to treat her patients, and how this has informed Bruchac’s living history performances in the character of Molly Geet at Old Sturbridge Village.

The talk fits with the collection at the Hatfield Historical Museum and its Farm Museum, where a worn black sleigh, in need of repair and missing one of the wide leather snow guards and with metal runners covered in rust, was used by Dr. Charles Byrne in the late 1800s into 1900s. This sleigh was how he would make house calls, up to 15 per day, during the winter months from his waiting room parlor at 83 Main St.

Meg Baker, the museum curator, said the idea is to put this into the context of local history and what came before Cooley Dickinson Hospital and Baystate Medical Center, and before Byrne, with Rhoades treating people in Northampton and other western Massachusetts towns from her home in Huntington.

“Looking at the sleigh, I really wanted to bring forward what local medical care looked like even earlier,” Baker said.

“The treatment and understanding of medical diseases is constantly evolving,” said retired physician Bob Osley, president of the Hatfield Historical Society. “It’s interesting to see how earlier views of illness and the ways of treating medical conditions have shaped our current medical care.”