Hundreds gather at funeral to honor Mohegan matriarch
November 6, 2005, 1:58 PM EST
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Gladys Tantaquidgeon, the matriarch and medicine woman of the Mohegan Tribe, was praised for her devotion to her heritage as she was interred Sunday in a traditional Native American ceremony on the Shantok burial ground.
Tantaquidgeon died Tuesday at age 106.
"It is very difficult for me to say goodbye," Ed Sarabia, head of the state's Indian Affairs division, told about 300 mourners. "I don't want to, but it's something called fate. Our creator decides that for us."
The ceremony began at the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, which Tantaquidgeon helped establish in 1931.
Mourners walked the 1{-mile route to Shantok, dressed in traditional clothing and singing songs of gathering, traveling and honor in their native language. Sweetgrass and sage also were burned during the procession.
Tantaquidgeon's ashes were carried to her grave by Mohegan Tribal Chairman Bruce "Two Dogs" Boszum, former chairmen Mark Brown and Roland Harris and others.
At the graveside ceremony, Indian leaders from around the country spoke of her devotion to her tribe and Indian heritage.
"This woman has taught many things in her years," said Sherman Paul of the Maliseet Indian Tribe in northern Maine. "She was a great woman who deserves the best from all of us."
Butch Lydem, of the Schaghticoke Tribe in New York, remembered Tantaquidgeon as a tireless worker with other tribes in the nation.
"When I was a young boy ... Gladys would tell me that everything elders tell you, to listen," he said. "Now that I'm older, I tell children today to listen to elders. There's not enough writing to express the pride and gratitude I have."
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal also spoke and was joined by Montville Mayor Joseph Jaskiewicz and representatives of Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Sens. Joe Lieberman and Christopher Dodd.
Born in 1899, Tantaquidgeon was a 10th generation descendant of Uncas, the famed Mohegan chief.
During her lifetime, she saw her tribe grow from a few Mohegan families who struggled to keep their tribal heritage to a federally recognized tribe that owns and operates an enormously successful casino.
Tantaquidgeon, who collected numerous tribal documents, is given much credit for the Mohegans receiving federal recognition. The information helped document the continuity of the tribe.
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Matriarch's life leaves huge legacy
Article published Nov 2, 2005
By JESSICA DURKIN
Norwich Bulletin
Gladys Tantaquidgeon, accepting an eagle feather during her 100th birthday celebration in June 1999, died Tuesday at 106. The Mohegan medicine woman was instrumental in the tribe gaining federal recognition.
MOHEGAN-- The Mohegan tribe has lost its matriarch and longtime cultural leader.
Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon, the oldest Mohegan tribal member, died Tuesday morning at her Uncasville home of natural causes, family members said. She was 106.
"It's a chapter closing and a chapter opening," Tantaquidgeon's great-niece Bethany Seidel said. "Her memory will go on forever because of her dedication. Basically, her entire life was dedicated to teaching non-natives and natives Mohegan culture."
Tantaquidgeon, who never married, devoted her life to educating herself, the Mohegan tribe and others about Mohegan and American Indian heritage.
Mohegan Tribal Chairman Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum said Tantaquidgeon's death will affect Indians and communities outside the region.
"We're all saddened by the loss of such a big part of this tribe," Bozsum said. "We are going to celebrate with her and her journey, we will miss her. It's going to be widespread beyond the reservation."
Tantaquidgeon's love of Indian history led her, her father and brother, Harold, to build the Tantaquidgeon Museum on Mohegan Hill. The two-room stone and wood structure opened in 1931 as a place for Tantaquidgeon to store and display Mohegan and other Indian artifacts culled from her travels to other reservations.
Museum visitors viewed Indian regalia, historical portraits and crafts. Tantaquidgeon gave tours at the museum until she was 99. Guests included world travelers as well as busloads of local school children.
"The artifacts that she had were the only thing tangible to the kids at the time when we were studying Native Americans," Stanton Elementary school teacher Denise Hanner said. Hanner took her second-graders on museum field trips in the early 1990s. "It was just wonderful to be able to have that in our own back yard and being able to show them rather than just tell them."
Patrick Doherty, who was mayor when the Mohegans received federal recognition 1994 and ground was broken for Mohegan Sun casino, said the town has enjoyed a long, overall positive relationship with the tribe.
"Before the tribe was recognized, they played a very important part in the community just because of that museum," Doherty said. "And today they play a very significant part in the community."
The historical records and artifacts Tantaquidgeon and her siblings kept were crucial in the tribe's federal recognition application.
Lifetime Mohegan Chief Ralph Sturges, 86, knew Tantaquidgeon all his life.
He described her as a trusted adviser he often turned to for answers to tribal guidance. Sturges was among the elders oversaw the federal recognition process and the opening of highly successful Mohegan Sun.
"Gladys never said to me she didn't agree with gaming and she knew I didn't either," Sturges said. "She never said one way or the other, she just said to me 'Chief, if that's what you think will do the tribe good, then we'll back you up.' She never showed me any oppositions, she never made any objections."
Tantaquidgeon was named tribal medicine woman in ceremonies in 1992. She was taught tribal spirituality and herbalism early in her life by female tribal elders Lydia Fielding, Mercy Ann Nonesuch Mathews and Emma Baker.
The University of Connecticut bestowed an honorary doctorate on Tantaquidgeon in 1987. Yale University did the same seven years later.
"She was Mrs. Mohegan. I always looked at her as such," Sturges said. "And I know that a lot of people will miss her. When you miss a shining light, you don't realize it until it goes out."
LIFE PRAISED
"I've never heard her use a harsh word against anybody or anything. That's not easy to say about people, because people today in the world we live in, you have a chance to use words that are not always good. But Gladys Tantaquidgeon never did that. Gladys Tantaquidgeon always answered people's questions with sincerity and honesty."
--Lifetime Mohegan Chief Ralph Sturges.
"She was a great asset for the town and the tribe and especially the community. The things she did for the tribe and the community, educating the community about the tribe and their heritage. ... God bless her."
--Montville Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz.
"Before Uncasville had a casino, Uncasville had the Tantaquidgeon Museum. I can truly say Gladys and Harold would absolutely love the fact that Uncasville has become a multicultural place, because that is one of the things they enjoyed about the museum, that they would be able to have opportunity to meet people from so many other different countries and cultures."
--Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, great-niece of Gladys Tantaquidgeon.
"The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is deeply saddened by the death of Gladys Tantaquidgeon, a regional and nationwide advocate for Native American rights, Native American history, and Native American culture. ... Her age and quality of life should be a testimony to all of us, based on her ability to live in harmony with nature and her surrounding environment. She installed her beliefs, values, principles and oral history through her immediate family and extended tribal members. Ms. Tantaquidgeon firmly believed that the best cure for prejudice was education. Her beliefs resonated throughout the country and throughout Indian country. May the creator continue to watch over her and her family and her tribal nation as they mourn her passing."
--Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Vice-Chairman Kenneth M. Reels.
"Our hearts are saddened at the passing of this great matriarch of the Mohegan tribe."
--Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation Chairwoman Marcia Flowers.
"The passing today of Mohegan Medicine Woman Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon marks the end of a remarkable life of teaching, learning, and sharing Native American history. Tantaquidgeon shared 106 years with Connecticut and its people and all of us are richer for it. She spent her life working on behalf of Native Americans, promoting their traditions and spreading their teachings, not only in Connecticut but around the country. Her philosophy on education -- 'You can't hate someone that you know a lot about' -- is something all of us can embrace. She leaves an extraordinary legacy."
Gov. M. Jodi Rell
PROFILE
GLADYS IOLA TANTAQUIDGEON
Born June 15, 1899, in Mohegan.
Entered University of Pennsylvania in 1919, studied anthropology.
Opened Tantaquidgeon Museum with brother, Harold, and father, John, in 1931.
Recruited by commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1934 to do community work on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota.
Wrote paper, "A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs," published in 1942.
Received honorary doctorates from University of Connecticut in 1987 and Yale University in 1994.
Member of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
Source: The Mohegan tribe
IN HER OWN WORDS
Gladys Tantaquidgeon quotations from a March 18, 1986, interview with the Bulletin:
On the importance of the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum:
"Things kind of come to life for people in the museum. We can sit here and talk about these things, but when you see the baskets and the canoe and the masks, it's quite a different thing."
On her early fascination with the tribe's traditional use of local plants:
"My maternal grandmother and her sister took me out when I was young to gather plants, and from then on I became more interested."
On seeing the Mohegan culture disappear:
"So little of the arts and crafts have survived. My father (John Tantaquidgeon, who died in 1935) was the last Mohegan basketmaker. My great aunt (Fidelia Fielding, who died in 1908) was the last speaker of the Mohegan language."
On the few tribal members living in Montville in 1986:
"The younger people are pretty well scattered."
On her work with tribes in South Dakota during her years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs:
"We encouraged those doing arts and crafts to continue. We were attempting to help them get the materials and market their goods."
On pursuing a career:
"Some of our relatives questioned my mother about whether it was appropriate for me to go off to these places so far from home, but she was of the opinion that if this is what I wanted, this was the thing to do."
On the national significance of the Tantaquidgeon museum:
"We have many researchers and scientists who are interested that come to see our collection. We also have a great many phone calls and correspondences from people wanting information."
Quotes from an April 1985 interview with the Bulletin:
On the origins of the Mohegans:
"According to the legend, we are related to the people (James Fenimore) Cooper wrote about in 'Last of the Mohicans.' "
On the meaning of her family name:
"Tantaquidgeon means 'going along fast,' probably a fast manner."
Quotations from an interview when she became the Mohegan tribe's medicine woman in 1992:
On her appointment:
"I feel greatly honored. It's difficult to find the words. It is particularly fine to see so many young Mohegan descendants interested in passing along the traditions."
On her tribe:
"(Chief Ralph Sturges') family and mine have always been conscious about the tribe and being Mohegans."
On the tribe's then-casino plans:
"Frankly, I don't read the papers or listen to the television much. I don't know too much about it."
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Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, Uncasville, Ct.
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Last updated on November 06, 2005