Gladys Tantaquidgeon
Encyclopedia
Gladys Tantaquidgeon was a Mohegan
anthropologist, author, council member, and elder. In 1994 she was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
, who lived from 1827 to 1908. Another was her maternal aunt, Emma Fielding Baker, who was posthumously elected in 1992 as the Tribal Medicine Woman.
Tantaquidgeon had only infrequent Western education in youth, but at 18 she attended the University of Pennsylvania
to study anthropology. There she studied and worked with Frank Speck
. She later did field work concerning the Lenape
and other eastern tribes.
She worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs
from 1934-1947, first on the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation in Dakota. Working with the BIA Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming, Tantaquidgeon helped artisans preserve traditional skills and arts. She also helped them form cooperatives and other institutions for sale and management of their arts. She developed ways for tribes to revive their cultural practices.
In 1931 she worked with her brother Harry, a former chief, to set up the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, one of the oldest owned and operated by Native Americans. After returning to Uncasville for good, she was working full-time at the museum until 1998.
She also worked to preserve and revive tribal customs and language. She became a council member and medicine woman, publishing several books about traditional herbal medicine. "Her best-known work, A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practices and Folk Beliefs, was published in 1942 and reprinted in 1972 and 1995 as Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians." In 1992 she was elected as the Tribal Medicine Woman.
As a librarian in the Niantic Women’s Prison in the 1940s, she helped minority women. She also kept birth, graduation, marriage and death records of the Mohegan people that proved vital to proving the tribe's case for federal recognition in 1994.
Mohegan
The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
anthropologist, author, council member, and elder. In 1994 she was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
Biography
Gladys was the third of seven children born to Mohegan parents in Uncasville, Connecticut. In childhood, she learned traditional practices, beliefs, and lore from nanus or respected elder women. One of her mentors was the Mohegan traditionalist Fidelia FieldingFidelia Fielding
Fidelia Hoscott Fielding , also known as Dji'ts Bud dnaca , was the last native speaker of the Mohegan Pequot language...
, who lived from 1827 to 1908. Another was her maternal aunt, Emma Fielding Baker, who was posthumously elected in 1992 as the Tribal Medicine Woman.
Tantaquidgeon had only infrequent Western education in youth, but at 18 she attended the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
to study anthropology. There she studied and worked with Frank Speck
Frank Speck
Frank Gouldsmith Speck was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of the United States and First Nations peoples of eastern boreal Canada.-Early life and...
. She later did field work concerning the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
and other eastern tribes.
She worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
from 1934-1947, first on the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation in Dakota. Working with the BIA Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming, Tantaquidgeon helped artisans preserve traditional skills and arts. She also helped them form cooperatives and other institutions for sale and management of their arts. She developed ways for tribes to revive their cultural practices.
In 1931 she worked with her brother Harry, a former chief, to set up the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, one of the oldest owned and operated by Native Americans. After returning to Uncasville for good, she was working full-time at the museum until 1998.
She also worked to preserve and revive tribal customs and language. She became a council member and medicine woman, publishing several books about traditional herbal medicine. "Her best-known work, A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practices and Folk Beliefs, was published in 1942 and reprinted in 1972 and 1995 as Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians." In 1992 she was elected as the Tribal Medicine Woman.
As a librarian in the Niantic Women’s Prison in the 1940s, she helped minority women. She also kept birth, graduation, marriage and death records of the Mohegan people that proved vital to proving the tribe's case for federal recognition in 1994.
Legacy and honors
- She received honorary doctorates from the University of Connecticut (1987) and Yale University (1994).
- 1994, she was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.