[nativestudies-l] [Fwd: The Mohegan Way Summer 2008 Electronic Newsletter]
Alyssa Mt. Pleasant
alyssa.mt.pleasant at yale.edu
Thu Aug 21 13:41:18 EDT 2008
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: The Mohegan Way Summer 2008 Electronic Newsletter
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:12:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: The Mohegan Tribe <moheganway at yahoo.com>
Summer Masthead
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>
*In This Issue*
*Melissa Tantaquidgeon <#LETTER.BLOCK6>*
*Letter From the Chairman <#LETTER.BLOCK23>*
*Questions and Answers about Tribal Sovereignty <#LETTER.BLOCK11>*
*The Mohegan Tribe's Tantaquidgeon Museum <#LETTER.BLOCK16>*
*Mohegan Tribal Council <#LETTER.BLOCK19>*
*Mohegan Tribal Elders <#LETTER.BLOCK18>*
*Quick Links*
Newsletter Archive
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczLyMbVmuMwAlgtTjYkuO7oUrLlnYbpep6NhDH7xFu2eu-76cZRUVTqjVLBmwaHUmH0LQ_IjbZa-0jk0nmJgvQYrW4nCiEBhvpjhAh6vJU8PCAvGWqlZa72VYMAmV8goDk19lSCASqlF8w==>
News
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJvpUy-vBYMhHFgpXTPSmTpIA2o67jVitLEy8xfKSFOLa6pXWGkl0izdQWpFhT1crBOZbd-MpQJ-LLbWwbY5dlCk3fNzRet2WPkyv0JkO2VtX_NTAgV0Dg->
Governement
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJapoPWd2ahaWC28CRiHPpARSbIrR8BN1OdCV3lU650V8S9d1dsl2ylJbDmvAxNertHhQ5QnH62s_7pI8ocwRN39Qn7yfQTp1aRPUMYfZAvJ_rjAX58bhhsRyyRNP5-WUvZ6TF_8xLTRw==>
Contact Us
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIkBuImflI_NsObzSMZnDqOJNRciYZJtczYGaldNKLHo8Iq5fGBrMBlkDppvZy_Ywy9hgkyotBf-fUAjG37dVh53dWXjd4j9a16t1GC6LQyclNZ7pgROzImbYYhOKq66iNwyDMGBKx7NA==>
*Join Our List*
Join Our Mailing List
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102056362466>
*Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel
Mohegan Tribal Medicine Woman*
Melissa Zobel
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIHuRBZzIqn2dCLtH_g7a_JP4TKSFOGzTY__JyU-l9CL0R7x-jLO-rfLiplOisnOh-W6kz1SQn07yzn0DIvoIsUgXSO3BGhwXYZHuzL9ohNg2Iv3FCRoFxKCiPTnEDqGfhyzxt7UdJH5SONvoQU75sT>
Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel has followed in the footsteps of her mentor,
her great-aunt Gladys Tantaquidgeon, and has been named Medicine Woman
for the Mohegan Tribe. Gladys Tantaquidgeon served as the Tribe's
Medicine Woman until her passing in 2005 at the age of 106. Melissa
received extensive knowledge of Mohegan history, culture, and artifacts
from Gladys Tantaquidgeon, and worked with her at the Tantaquidgeon
Museum during her childhood. In making the appointment, the Council of
Elders noted that in her post as Medicine Woman, Zobel is "preserving
the spiritual, physical and emotional health of individual Tribal members."
SUMMER 2008
mohegan logo
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>
Greetings!
Attached you will find an electronic version of the
2008 Summer Issue of The Mohegan Way.
Out of respect for the environment, and in response to requests from a
number of people who regularly receive
The Mohegan Way newsletter, the Mohegan Tribe will be identifying new
ways to utilize the internet and reduce unnecessary printing.
If you would prefer not to receive the electronic version of The Mohegan
Way in the future, please use the "unsubscribe" feature at the top of
this newsletter.
Thank you and best wishes for a safe, healthy and enjoyable summer.
The Mohegan Way
*Letter From the Chariman*
chairman
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczLkbuMCEXYNvtVHqs7nfqLDvyz_HfCxaIlQ4sCYqgxzzj_GBD0GxCDJ1IueR3l0fyWvdcs-LhaqHuK13QIBZl_JVSNLN7_-_RJLUwvR8L5mv_wn89Ad6nCkxGBhYvOQrhCyhEh4RfH32IXdRLNTi0nU>
*Please consider signing up
for an electronic version of "The Mohegan Way"
*Friends,
As I have written here before, the Mohegan Tribe has always recognized
our sacred duty to honor and respect our natural environment. We take
that responsibility very seriously and have consistently sought to be
environmentally sensitive in all of our Tribal activities.
We've utilized cutting-edge technologies, such as fuel cells and
photovoltaic systems, along with more traditional techniques such as
broad-based recycling of food and other waste materials. Our expansion
projects use up-to-date green building standards and we are now
utilizing green cleaning products throughout our facilities. The Mohegan
Way is even printed on 100% post-consumer recycled fiber.
As part of our collective efforts to do even more, we are asking you to
consider signing up for the electronic version of this newsletter so
that, together, we can further reduce the use of precious natural
resources. If you'd be willing to receive The Mohegan Way via e-mail,
please go to www.mohegan.nsn.us
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>,
where you can click on the sign-up at the top of the page or simply
click on the "Join Our Mailing List" button in the left-hand column of
this newsletter.
Sincerely,
Bruce Sig
Chairman Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum
on behalf of the entire Mohegan Tribal Council
*Questions and Answers about Tribal Sovereignty*
Question: What is the meaning of Tribal Sovereignty and why is it
important to the Mohegan Tribe?
Chairman Bozsum: Tribal sovereignty means the Mohegan Tribe, like all
federally recognized Native American Tribes, is an "independent
governmental entity" and that they have certain rights and privileges
that are protected by the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Mohegan Tribe existed long before Europeans arrived in this land,
and we have maintained our status as a Native Tribe continuously through
to the present time.
Question: What is the history of Tribal Sovereignty in the United States?
Chairman Bozsum: Some of the most important principles we honor as
Americans were borrowed from the Native Tribes that were here when
Europeans settled in what was to become the United States. For example,
the Constitution of The Seven Iroquois Nations, which was called "The
Great Law of Peace," governed an alliance of Indian Tribes, and was
already in place 400 years before the Europeans came to this land.
In addition, for over 350 years, Europeans and then Americans recognized
the sovereignty of Mohegan Tribe. As far back as 1638, when the English
formed the "Connecticut Colony," the new settlers formally recognized
sovereignty of the Mohegan Tribe through the "Treaty of Hartford."
When the United States was formed following the Declaration of
Independence in 1776, the new U.S. Constitution recognized the Tribal
Nations and put in place the language that helps guarantee the Native
American sovereignty today.
In the 1830s, the United States Supreme Court finally ruled that Native
Americans had the full legal right to manage their own affairs, govern
themselves internally, and engage in legal and political relationships
with the federal government and its subdivisions. Despite repeated
attempts to take away the rights of Native Americans, the Supreme Court
has said that Native Americans retain "their original rights as the
undisputed possessors of the soil from time immemorial" and "the very
term nation, so generally applied to them, means a people distinct from
others, having territorial boundaries, within which their authority is
exclusive, and having a right to all the lands within those boundaries,
which is not only acknowledged but guaranteed by the United States."
Question: How does Tribal Sovereignty exist today?
Chairman Bozsum: The United States Constitution and the laws of the
federal government require that individual states have an obligation to
sit down with Native Tribes as equals, and negotiate and approve
compacts that govern the relationship between the two sovereign entities.
Today, these compacts serve as "treaties." For example, the compact
between Connecticut and the sovereign governments of the Mohegan and
Mashantucket Pequot Tribes governs the development and oversight of the
two Native American casinos. As agreed upon in the compacts, the state
and Tribes have joint criminal jurisdiction over the casinos, while the
Tribes maintain civil jurisdiction. In some ways, it is like having the
states of Connecticut and Massachusetts agree that some things they will
do together and some things they will do on their own.
Question: What do you see as the future for Tribal Sovereignty?
Chairman Bozsum: The Constitution of the United States guarantees the
fundamental principles of sovereignty. When our forefathers, both the
Native Americans and new Americans, created the treaties and laws that
govern the relationship between the United States and the Tribes, they
developed an extraordinary system of government that serves as a shining
example to the entire world of how people can work together for the
common good.
Here in Connecticut, we've seen what can be achieved when we build
lasting relationships. We've proven that, together, as we strengthen our
historical and legal relationships, we can achieve great partnerships
that are based on mutual respect and communication.
*The Mohegan Tribe's Tantaquidgeon Museum
Celebration marks the reopening of the Oldest Native-Owned Museum in the
United States
*
Chief Harold Tantaquidgeon
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIdfsbQaqYMtc4buVDNTgvnfPKms4heqMc00nONwkvXnYJiQNYKNaUSgRT6LHGDkDipkpuEsjH7lrsTUtxbsYfxL4Rmo5W9bZuFAJVAuDnc6b82PK3Ok72FO1Lb0QfmgjTxzZ164qLH6S6WEhfX153dqrQMeOnrYa-SVBRNGBAGmA==>On
June 18, 2008, the Mohegan Tribe gathered together to celebrate the new,
renovated home of the Tantaquidgeon Museum on the grounds of the
Tantaquidgeon homestead on Mohegan Hill.
The Tantaquidgeon Museum is the oldest Native American owned and
operated Indian museum in America. The Museum was founded in 1931 by
John Tantaquidgeon, his son Chief Harold Tantaquidgeon, (pictured to the
left) and his daughter Gladys, a medicine woman of the Mohegan Tribe.
Blind in one eye and on crutches, John built the museum, along with
Harold. Gladys contributed artifacts obtained in her travels all over
the country. Throughout the following decades, the late Tantaquidgeons
welcomed visitors from Connecticut and all over the world.
Museum Re-opening
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIdfsbQaqYMtc4buVDNTgvnfPKms4heqMc00nONwkvXnYJiQNYKNaUSgRT6LHGDkDipkpuEsjH7lrsTUtxbsYfxL4Rmo5W9bZuFAJVAuDnc6b82PK3Ok72FO1Lb0QfmgjTxzZ164qLH6S6WEhfX153dqrQMeOnrYa-SVBRNGBAGmA==>The
renovated structure blends the old and the new. It has retained the
museum's original rustic feeling, while also offering a more up-to-date,
climate-controlled environment. Members of the Mohegan Tribe serve as
staff and volunteers at the museum, and can speak knowledgeably about
the collection.
Museum Re-opening
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIdfsbQaqYMtc4buVDNTgvnfPKms4heqMc00nONwkvXnYJiQNYKNaUSgRT6LHGDkDipkpuEsjH7lrsTUtxbsYfxL4Rmo5W9bZuFAJVAuDnc6b82PK3Ok72FO1Lb0QfmgjTxzZ164qLH6S6WEhfX153dqrQMeOnrYa-SVBRNGBAGmA==>Bruce
"Two Dogs" Bozsum, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribe and also its ceremonial
Pipe Carrier, offered a welcome to the crowd as they assembled in a
clearing near a stone fireplace built many decades ago by Chief Harold
Tantaquidgeon. Following tradition, Mohegan Tribal members scattered
tobacco on a ceremonial fire, while Tribal Elder William "Dancing
Shadow" Andrews played the flute and Tribal Member Chris "Painted
Turtle" Harris played the drum.
John Henry Clark
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIdfsbQaqYMtc4buVDNTgvnfPKms4heqMc00nONwkvXnYJiQNYKNaUSgRT6LHGDkDipkpuEsjH7lrsTUtxbsYfxL4Rmo5W9bZuFAJVAuDnc6b82PK3Ok72FO1Lb0QfmgjTxzZ164qLH6S6WEhfX153dqrQMeOnrYa-SVBRNGBAGmA==>Members
of the Tribal Council, Council of Elders, and revered individuals known
by the titles of "Nonners" and "Sagamores" were present at the ceremony,
as well as the Tribe's newly named Medicine Woman, Melissa Tantaquidgeon
Zobel, who was mentored by Gladys Tantaquidgeon. (Pictured right: John
Henry Clark, Chairman of the Council of Elders
which oversees the Museum.)
The museum is located at 1819 Norwich-New London Turnpike in Uncasville.
It is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Wednesday through Saturday from May
through November. Tours are available for groups by appointment. For
more information, please contact 860.848.0594, or visit the Tribe's
website at www.mohegan.nsn.us
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>.
The Day:
Recognizes Historic Museum
Editorial: June 21, 2008
"The museum, which Gladys Tantaquidgeon and her brother Harold opened in
their backyard, is a testament to the tribe's deep roots in the
community and lifelong dedication to teaching others about native
peoples... That tribal members recognize it as their most important
building says a lot about the Mohegans, who they are and what they
stand for."
*Mohegan Tribal Council*
council
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczLkbuMCEXYNvtVHqs7nfqLDvyz_HfCxaIlQ4sCYqgxzzj_GBD0GxCDJ1IueR3l0fyWvdcs-LhaqHuK13QIBZl_JVSNLN7_-_RJLUwvR8L5mv_wn89Ad6nCkxGBhYvOQrhCyhEh4RfH32IXdRLNTi0nU>
Front Row (left to right)
Allison D. Johnson: Recording Secretary
Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum: Chairman
Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba: Vice Chairwoman
William Quidgeon, Jr.: Treasurer
Back Row (left to right)
Cheryl A. Todd: Councilor
"Matahga" Mark F. Brown: Ambassador
Ralph James Gessner, Jr.: Corresponding Secretary
Mark W. Hamilton: Councilor
Thayne D. Hutchins, Jr.: Councilor
*Mohegan Tribal Elders*
elders
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczIORMS56euCm5w7Fcb7We8LxE0Czxke9K-j0GjTdJVL7tAIAD69UCVwU9jvGmyhjoXWdqvJAI-NHUjnOiJs2BuePNrrIp0bmRlYkn77nhcUkZi7zpaPQ6vbQ9KQ77IBY64UQKNN94CBgoOEgOLXY0tw>
Front Row (left to right)
Maynard L. Strickland: Elder and Justice
Marie Pineault: Elder and Justice
Robert (Bob) Francis Soper: Secretary and Justice
Back Row (left to right)
William "Dancing Shadow" Andrews:
Elder and Justice
John Henry Clark: Chairman and Chief Justice
Joseph "Wolf Who Walks Alone" Gray:
Vice Chairman and Justice
Austin Fish, Jr.: Treasurer and Justice
Photos: Bill Gucfa, Mohegan Tribal Publications
Masthead photo: © Tereza Dvorakova | Dreamstime.com
The Mohegan Way: Published by the Mohegan Tribal Council.
For further information, contact: mweditor at moheganmail.com
<mailto:mweditor at moheganmail.com> or check us out on the Web at
www.mohegan.nsn.us
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>.
Mohegan Tribe
5 Crow Hill Road
Uncasville, CT 06382
www.mohegan.nsn.us
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001iJYwF05dczJXjBYaCaGv98ZvV6qUr1fyiuPPgq6a_URQymWzJ4CqYY2wm-eqbkhU1MIQRHzlgNjfd9s3degnn81AdxJd1mKxOeCpzxPS9qA2RD3NhP__BQ==>
(860) 862-6120
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nativestudies-l/attachments/20080821/7e2ff79b/attachment-0001.html
More information about the NativeStudies-l
mailing list