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Goal: To sustain, grow and share that which makes us human, our vitality, our ever growing and changing cultures.

Though I am currently working within the theoretical boundaries of “Mohegan” in which there are many facets of culture to be discovered, relearned, cultivated and sustained, in the future, it is my hope that this proposal can be applied in a general, and with some research, in a specific manner, to other cultures, perhaps in the setting of a town multicultural center one day. The “smaller picture” is perhaps a Mohegan Cultural and Community Center, but the appropriate and larger picture MAY end up being the Multi-Cultural Center of Montville, Connecticut or the Multicultural Community Vitality and Respite Center of Montville, Connecticut … I can envision this place as a gathering area of song and dance, arts and crafts, language and skits, social gatherings and international potluck dinners, campfires and marshmallows, fishing and swimming… My daydreams about this vision are nearly endless. I have this picture in my head of a ball field out back, an “everyone plays playground,” a large house-like building with rooms to socialize, a “stage” like place for people to share parts of their culture in a potluck dinner-theater-like environment… Maybe an all-accessible pool that is enclosed in the winter months… Maybe some therapeutic equine riding areas… a campfire area for story circles around the fire…perhaps a longhouse too for colder days… These are my daydreams about this “place” for people and for families to gather…a “place” that lives but in my mind so far…

A multicultural center in Montville, Connecticut could be so incredible and diverse because it could be sustained by the influx of workers from EVERYWHERE in the world to the casino for employment — there are so many people so far away from their cultures and their homes. Perhaps this could even include some components of a respite center for caretakers – sustaining the caretakers of our communities is vital to sustaining our communities. Finding care for a special needs medically fragile child is all but impossible. Even when insurance will pay for a nurse, to find a nurse in the medical field shortages can take a year! Families with medically fragile special needs kids suffer so much emotionally, financially and as a family. The family is nearly always defined by the limitations of the medically fragile individual. Supporting a medically fragile special needs child takes a toll on the family, the relationships/the marriage, the other children – in short on the life of everyone that touches the situation. All of these factors make having a life outside of the home quite a challenge. The health of our family unit and our people as individuals – these are vitally connected to the health of our communities, so perhaps the daydream is a blended multicultural center/respite center/place to PLAY. This is perhaps the crux of the “Uncas lesson” the true Mohegan Way to friendship…

Outreach: Reaching outside of Mohegan

As an example of the blending of Mohegan culture with that of the Montville neighborhood, oddly enough, the summer “fireworks” provide a good example. The “fireworks” are held as part of Mohegan Sun Casino’s summer marketing, “Hot Summer Fun.” It is an atop the roof of a cement garage celebration at Mohegan Sun that is held every Wednesday throughout the summer months. The Mohegan Cultural and Community Programs’ part of the presentation is about an hour and a half long, and our rooftop journey includes a traditional thanksgiving in the Mohegan language, some history, some talk/advertising for the free Mohegan Wigwam Festival in August, storytelling, dancing, drumming and singing, and naturally, the event comes full circle to end as it began – with thanks – to the Creator, but also to the Mohegan Council of Elders and Tribal Council for continuing to support the effort s that contribute to the Mohegan Way through the Cultural and Community Programs. For one hour, the electronic talking stick microphone thing is ours. Some Mohegan teens are phenomenal dancers, and the younger children are following their steps, learning from their Mohegan peers who are just a few years older than they are… Our teens not only learned to dance, but also, they are learning to pass down their traditions.  That is “cultural sustainability!”

Our cultural hour is just the beginning of a terrific night on the rooftop overlooking the Thames River — somewhat like a huge, free beach party. There is a local farmer’s market, local foods, the firefighter’s cook off competition, and an antique car show. The food sales are through Mohegan Sun, and every item is $1 each. The entire proceeds are donated to a local chapter of a charity such as Habitat for Humanity or the local food banks or the Salvation Army. So the elements of “sustainability” are nearly endless. Until I was sitting in this Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability program in our residency week in January 2010, a lot of these elements were missed on me: local food, local farms, local charities, friendly local battle of the band competitions – all highlighted by the reflective backdrop of Mohegan’s quartz like tower of a hotel. Mohegan history, song, dance, games and storytelling events see the sun begin to set, our “Outreach” program ends, and the Battle of the Bands starts… At dark, the fireworks reflect in the glass quartz like tower of Mohegan Sun’s Hotel, creating a reflective rhapsody in the skyline set to the music of the local radio station.

This very odd intersection of a “traditional culture” and the local culture in this really strange cement ground setting has become more comfortable over the years.  It was rather awkward at first, but with a lot of communication, and many good people, we have ironed things out fairly well. It is difficult to explain how awkward this intersection was at first. There were some major logistical issues a few years ago – for example, the Battle of the Bands was at the same time as the Cultural Outreach presentation. That was undeniable failure. Many kids took their first dance steps to the beat of the drum on the cement roof of that garage. Those teenage dancers who now excel in many types of Native American dance and win awards at powwows – they too took their first dance steps atop River View Garage. It is cement – there is no getting around that fact, but the casino supplies a great big rug with our traditional woodland designs. If no drum comes, Mohegan Sun has a great sound system set up for us, and we Indians have learned well how to make and use CDs! It is all about adaptation and survival. There is that little feeling of apprehension every time we get ready for a presentation – those little butterflies flutter within, just like that same feeling every time I first get into the saddle atop my horse. I don’t think it is “fear” so much as anticipation… How will this journey turn out today? I never know the answer, but I know it is always good, it is always fun, and it is always a different journey than the day before.

So out of a class at Goucher College on Day 1 of our Residency, forming a rough definition of “cultural sustainability” through a weeklong residency program with my classmates and professors, and into an overall understanding of the meaning and convolutions of “cultural sustainability,” we come to the end – of the beginning – of our journey. As our first courses in our Master of Arts Program come to an end, we have formed relationships, theoretical action plans, groundwork plans, and in some cases, dreams… These dreams together with an evolving outline and together with what I perceive as the beginning of an incredible education through the MACS program at Goucher College provide somewhat of a “blueprint” for an incredible journey. How the journey will play out in the implementation of these dreams is very likely to be something totally different than any of the considered options… Will it be a Cultural and Community Center for Mohegan, or a Multicultural Community Center, or a Multicultural Community Vitality and Respite Center, will it be all three somewhere in the town of Montville? Will it BE at all? The journey waits to be played out in the rivers and tributaries of humankind here in the land that the great sachem Uncas once roamed…

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