THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEfJN

MELISSA FAWCETr University of

The identity of the people has been preserved as well as challenged by interaction with the non-Indian. This paradox has been sustained by three outstanding tribal leaders born in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, respectively. When a splinter-group of the Pequot nation first formed the in the 1620's, the rebels were an insecure minor­ ity within both the Indian and non-Indian world.l Forced to ally with the Puritans for survival, the Mohegan chief, , was nonetheless able to limit cultural contamination through his pragmatism and manipulative diplomacy. Mter U ncas' death in 1683, the devastating effects of accul­ turation combined with a power vacuum created a nearly dis­ astrous cultural and demographic degeneration. This trend was reversed in the mid 1700s by Samsom Occum. As a congre­ gational minister and skilled Indian woodsman, he was able to establish schools for his people with curriculum that balanced traditional and modern skills. Having survived the ravages of contact and acculturation by the creative implementation of non-lndian military and educa­ tional skills, the Mohegan had yet to face an even greater chal­ lenge. Mter the reservation was eliminated in 1861, cultural identity became increasingly difficult to maintain. By the late

1 This view of Mohegan origins is popular within the tribe itself. For the currently accepted scholarly interpretation see Neal Salisbury (1982). 136 MELISSA FAWCETT 19th century tribal elders were often too apathetic, too fearful or too skeptical of their offspring to pass on their knowledge. was born into thb negative climate in 1899. As a young girl she was chosen to become cultural custodian by , the last speaker of the language, and the tribal medicine women. With their passing in the early 1900s she was receptive to any opportunity to convey and expand her knowledge. That chance was afforded first by anthropologist , who adopted Gladys as protege and informant, and secondly by her work with numerous tribes through the and Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Her life, like that of Uncas and Occum, was one in which non-Indian in­ fluences simultaneously challenged and preserved Mohegan iden­ tity. The following b a dbcussion of the fateful convergences that created this paradoxical situation, centering around the life of Gladys Tantaquidgeon. As thb essay b based on oral hbtory in­ terviews, it necessarUy involves Gladys' perceptions.2 Her words are modest and tend to downplay the pivotal nature of her role, therefore quotes are used sparingly. Yet, although she would never presume to present herself as a rival to Uncas or Occum for a premier position in tribal history, she does concede that she is their philosophical heir. Gladys believes that the pru­ dent utilization of non-Indian resources b essential to Mohegan continuity. The last speaker of the Mohegan-Pequot dialect was Fidelia Fielding, also known as "Jeets Bodernasha", or Flying Bird. Al­ though the reservation was terminated in 1861, Fidelia never overcame the feelings of bolation instUled in her by that system. She even continued to live in the last reservation-type "tribe house" (log dwelling) until her death in 1908. Gladys notes that Flying Bird's reclusive nature stood in sharp contrast to

This article was researched through interviews conducted by the author with Gladys Tantaquidgeon at the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum from June 20 to July 15, 1983. These tapes are stored at the Center for Oral History at the University of Connecticut. THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON 137 the outgoing, friendly personalities of her other relatives. Miss Tantaquidgeon explains that "Aunt Fidelia did not participate in church projects...(as did other family members)...she was not pleased with non-Indian neighbors." Memories of "punbhment for speaking the native tongue" kept FideUa from teaching her niece the language. However, seeing merit in the traditional­ ism of the Tantaquidgeon family, she did choose to teach young Gladys the ways of the woodland little people or "makiawbug." Gladys vividly remembers having been greatly impressed by one family dinner at which Great Aunt Fidelia abruptly excused her­ self to talk to these magical mbchevious beings. In her last years, Mrs. Fielding presented her niece with a beaded belt that had belonged to Fidelia's grandmother and language mentor, Martha Uncas. That gift was a symbol of Gladys' position as guardian of the traditional culture. She has always treasured that belt, well aware of the responsibility borne by the bearer.

Gladys' three "grandmothers", Lydia Fielding, Emma Baker and Mercy Ann Mathews trained her in folklore and related medicine skilb. WhUe only the former was in fact a grand­ mother, and the latter not even a blood relative, all were cher- bhed equally. They too had Uved through the reservation pe­ riod, yet their Uves were not as clouded by the past as was that of Fidelia. When overseer-rule ended in 1861, these women set about to rejuvenate the ancient Thanksgiving for the Corn Har­ vest, known as "The Green Corn Festival" or "Wigwam". That revived version was held in conjunction with the Mohegan Con­ gregational Church. Indian and non-Indian craft work and foods were sold at thb two-day event. Their concern with tradition led these three grandmothers to choose precocious young Gladys to become the next Mohegan Medicine woman. Gladys recalls that her grandmothers took her to the fieldsa t fiveyear s of age to gather herbs and that the adventure kindled a spark which even­ tually led to her research and pubUcations in the field of Algo­ nquian medicine. She also remembers that in casual conversa­ tion, perhaps about the weather, these women would comment on folklore. However, the deeper meaning of their comments 138 MELISSA FAWCETT regarding Moshup or Granny Squanit did not become fully ap­ parent until she began to study neighboring tribes later in her life. With her selection as cultural custodian by both FideUa Field­ ing and her grandmothers, Gladys' responsibUity to the Mohegan was established. Yet, both of these sources had conveyed infor­ mation to her at such a young age that non-Indian education and broader experience with other tribes was necessary for her fully to organize and develop what she had been taught. It was anthropologist Frank Speck who introduced Gladys to broader Indian and non-Indian influences. Speck first en­ countered the Mohegan in 1902 as a young student. He and Professor J.D. Prince planned a research trip to the tribal land base in UncasvUle, Connecticut. Speck was profoundly impressed with the imminent loss of the language, medicine and folk beliefs among the Mohegan. While Gladys was only an infant at the time, she remembers her elders later saying that they Uked him very much due to his friendly personality and non-aggressive mannerisms. Gladys contrasts Speck's appeal with that of a Bureau of Indian Af­ fairs fact-finder she observed while working with the Penobscot in the 1930s. Miss Tantaquidgeon remarks that "she was so ag­ gressive, I know for a fact that they (the Penobscot) were not telling her the truth." Gladys beUeves that it was not merely Speck's charisma that allowed him to succeed where the govern­ ment worker faUed. She credits hb success to the fact that hb theories were in their formative stages. He was to participate in a give-and-take relationship with her people. Even the ec­ centric Fidelia Fielding responded to thb dynamic rapport and allowed Speck to record the language. While she in no way wishes to diminish thb latter accomplishment, Gladys believes that Speck's greatest and most lasting contribution to the Mo­ hegan (and to other tribes as well) was that hb work made them Indian-conscious. For example, the Tantaquidgeon family re­ turned to their original name, which they recently anglicized to "Quidgeon". THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON 139

By the time Gladys was a young girl, Speck became aware of her chosen position and potential. He made her education his responsibility. Formal high school training was not available to Gladys. But, Dr. and Mrs. Speck began to take her on trips to various east coast cities from the time she was eleven years old. More importantly, she began spending her summers at the Speck cottage on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. On what Gladys called her "learning vacations" she Uved with a menagerie of artists, professors, and assorted Algonquian Indians. Had she not sought non-Indian contact, she might never have met these numerous related Indian people. For Algonquian group organization was weak, and Gladys' family never associated with other tribes. Her worldview was profoundly affected by these summers with the Specks. She had never known any Indians outside of her own tribe. At Cape Ann, Indian chiefs and medicine women were no longer uncles and aunts. They were Gabe Paul, the Penobscot, or Joe Little Bear, the Micmac. Suddenly, she was Gladys Tantaquidgeon, the Mohegan. Even more significant in the long run were the similarities she discovered between herself and these Indians. The elementary fieldwork she conducted on these vacations during day-trips to neighboring tribes led to an increased sense of Algonquian identity. Thereafter she would refer to the Gay Head, Mashpee and others that she vbited as "our friends" or "our cousins". Not only was she now part of a larger Algonquian identity, she abo saw herself as somehow different from non-Indian children. WhUe she had never been treated differently by her white playmates at home, the non- Indian children on these summer trips expected her to perform feats of athletic prowess as a result of her ethnic background. For example, though she had never learned how to swim, her peers expected her to far surpass any of their aquatic abilities.

These informal learning experiences ended when Gladys was twenty years old. At that time, Dr. Speck arranged for her to at­ tend the University of Pennsylvania. Thus in 1919, Gladys, along with her Penobscot friend,Moll y Dellb, began working in the Department of Anthropology under Speck's guidance. Gladys 140 MELISSA FAWCETT recalb with amusement that she and Molly were thought of as curiosities. Outside of their family in the anthropology depart­ ment, they limited their associations to the International House. The various ethnic groups that resided there conducted a weekly program entitled "Around the World in Eighty Minutes". When it was time for the young Indian girb to participate, Gladys would tell folk tales and MoUy danced. Neither was fully pre­ pared for the initial reactions to their performances. The ques­ tions directed to Gladys were often framed on the basb of ideas obtained from James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, a novel Dr. Speck had neglected while supervbing her educa­ tion. In spite of such minor exasperations, the International House community stiU formed relatively more enUghtened com­ pany than other students at the University who would insbt that Gladys did not appear or act as a real Indian should. Some of­ fered their log cabin retreats as more suitable housing for the young Indian. Nevertheless, Ufe as a curiousity had its rewards. While living at the Speck home in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Gladys was able to meet Alfred Kroeber, Clark Wissler, and other luminaries of the day.

Gladys studied at the University of Pennsylvania for six years. Central to her departmental research were the field trips she took to study the Naskapi and the Delaware as weU as return visits to the Gay Head and Mashpee. These studies provided her with information not only about the specific tribe under considera­ tion, but about her own group as weU. These expeditions, more than anything ebe, reflect her ability to put the skills of the non- Indian establbhment to work for the enrichment of her people. As a student in the mid 1920s, she visited the Lake St. John Montagnab-Naskapi. The natives were at first unreceptive to­ wards Gladys, fearful that she might be a Mohawk. Dr. Speck soon clarified that she was a "Mahekanni". Their subsequent ac­ ceptance of her as kin through gift offerings of painted raiment increased Gladys' awareness of herself as part of an Algonquian identity. Their reaction prompted her to be aware of the simi­ larities between the tribes she researched and her own. THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON 141

For example, in 1928 when Gladys was researching the medi­ cine and folklore of the Gay Head and Mashpee, she compared their stories of the little people of the woods to those of Aunt Fidelia. Her aunt's eccentricity was suddenly much more signifi­ cant. Among these related tribes she also heard tales of Granny Squanit and the Giant, Moshup, about whom her grandmothers had made passing references. Such stories were frequently re­ lated to her in conjunction with the weather. Inclement weather meant "old Moshup and Granny Squanit must be fighting". A third group from whom Gladys learned a great deal were the Deleware. As part of her work in the University of Pennsylvania anthropology department she participated in a grant to research Delaware medicine and folk beUefs. This research involved in­ terviews with James Weber, abo known as "Witapinoxwe" or "Walks with Daylight", a medicine man of the Delaware. From him she learned not only about Delaware medicine practices but about those of the as well. For instance, both groups revered the turtle as grandfather of the world and used its sheU in ceremonials. Their exchange prompted extended recognition by both parties. As with Dr. Speck, Gladys served as both protege and informant to Witapinoxwe. It b also worth noting that another Delaware man whom Gladys met while conducting this research, furthered her knowl­ edge of early post-contact Mohegan dress. Upon seeing Gladys' costume, which she had designed by piecing together fragmen­ tary descriptions, he said that it was correct for hb people. Gladys was again gratified in her research. By the late 1920s Gladys was finishedwit h Euramerican aca- demia. Secure in her Algonquian identity, the next stage of her Ufe was to introduce her to a broader, and more mature, Pan- Indian awareness. This process began in 1935 when Dr. Speck recommended to Dr. Will Carson Ryan of the newly revised Bureau of Indian Affairs that Gladys be offered as position as a community worker. Miss Tantaquidgeon met with the organiza­ tion's director, John Collier, and perceived that he, like Speck, really wanted to help the Indians become more self-sufficient.

A 142 MELISSA FAWCETT She subsequently accepted a difficult assignment with the Yang- ton Sioux. While her background was very different from that of these western Indians, their acceptance of her and reUance upon her developed in Gladys a new Pan-Indian awareness. A sense of commonality between Gladys and the Sioux is evident in the attitude of elders like grandmother White Tallow, who referred to her as "granddaughter". Gladys slowly gained the confidence of many Indians who had never before spoken to a government worker. Through patient encouragement she was able to lure then into the forbidding government building, by talking to them on the street or at the market. When that did not suffice, she vb- ited families in their homes to bring food or dbucss community schooling for the children. The latter was a particularly contro­ versial subject since the boarding schools were being phased out and parents felt the new system would be an economic burden. Her tasks were frequently unpleasant. One dying snake-bite victim insbted that only she could take him to the hospital. In another instance, she was forced to dress a baby for burial as the tribespeople were suspicious regarding the cause of the child's death. She was also compelled to speak out when Indians were sent to the back of the bus or feared rejection at restaurants. Through these experiences she developed a sense of responsibility to Indian people, in general. Gladys' greater awareness was further strengthened in 1937 when she joined the newly created Indian Arts and Crafts Board of Dr. Rene D'Harnoncourt as its first speciaUst. Her work in the organization included supervbing the teaching and develop­ ment of Indian arts and crafts as weU as touring and exhibit­ ing exemplary works at museums around the country. Further, this new position enabled her to learn numerous arts and crafts that she had witnessed the Mohegan elders perform, but had never mastered. Fingerweaving and beadwork are two exam­ ples. Upon returning home, her in-service training provided her with the skills necessary to recreate traditional Mohegan designs. Further, Gladys' work at museums in Browning, Montana, San THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON 143

Francisco and elsewhere afforded her the expertise necessary to successfully operate her own institution. Hence, in 1947, she quit her work in the non-Indian establbhment to head, fuU-time, her family's own Indian establbhment, the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, built in 1931. Gladys recalls that the museum was originally built "...to house the collection of the various artifacts that had been made and used by our people. They were scattered around (the fam­ ily's) living quarters here and there". She views her work at the museum the following way:

I feel that I like to take part in and appreciate my heritage and perhaps pass along a few survivals to not only our younger generations, but to other people who are interested.

The forgoing passage illuminates the fact that having en­ hanced the culture of her own Mohegan people, Gladys now hopes to provide others with insights into their Ufeways. Gladys Tantaquidgeon has formed a bridge between modern and traditional Mohegan culture by creatively utiUzing Indian and non-Indian methods. The current breadth of Mohegan folk and medicine beliefs (as they are being passed on today) owe their organization and extensive form to the research Gladys was able to conduct whUe at the University of Pennsylvania and among other New England tribes. The status of the Museum as a centre for the dissemination of information on artifacts and crafts b due to Gladys' work with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Algonquian identity b evident in the tribes' participation in forums such as this conference, and it stems from Gladys' con­ tact with related tribes. An even broader Pan-Indian conscious­ ness, brought about by Gladys' work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs b exemplified by tribal participation in the work of the American Indian Archeological Institute, American Indians for Development, the Connecticut Indian Affairs Council, and the Connecticut Indian Education council. Lastly, one seen Pan- Indianism in Gla dys' choice of a statement by a young Sioux man to sum up her method of developing an Indian identity: 144 MELISSA FAWCETT The Indian should learn about and take as much of what the white man has to offer in the way of learning, etc, and still be Indian. Not only has Gladys taken the white man's learning to help maintain her Indian identity, she has used it to bobter her cul­ ture. The culture of the Mohegan tribe is still being challenged by interaction with non-Indians, in the form of land dbputes. Yet, as the life of Gladys Tantaquidgeon illustrates, such chal­ lenges often forge the path of preservation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to thank Dr. Bruce Stave of the Center for Oral History at the University of Connecticut for assbting in the development and implementation of thb research project. A special acknowl­ edgement is due to Dr. Karen Kupperman for her invaluable encoura gement and criticism whUe thb study was in prepara­ tion. Lastly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Gladys Tantaquidgeon for her enthusiastic participation in thb project.

REFERENCES

Salisbury, Neal. 1982 Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England 1500-1643. New York: Oxford University Press.

APPENDIX

Works by Gladys Tantaquidgeon

Delaware Indian Art Designs. Pennsylvania Archeological So­ ciety Bulletin. 1950.

Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonquian Indi­ ans. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Collec­ tion. 1972.

Medicine Lore of the Lake St. John Montagnab-Naskapi. Journal of American Folklore. 1932. THE ROLE OF GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON 145

Mohegan Basketry Painted Designs. Artifacts V. 1983.

Mohegan Medicine Practices and Weatherlore. 4Srd Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1928.

Newly Dbcovered Basketry of the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts. Indian Notes. 1930.

Notes on the GayHead Indians of Massachusetts. Indian Notes. 1930.

Uses of Plants Among the Indians of Southern New England. The Herbalist. 1940.

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