An impressive reading list for anyone with lots of time on their hands! I have enjoyed every one of these sources, as I begin to put together a web of connections and thoughts for a “Groundwork Project” that will become a masterpiece in my Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability journey through 2012.
References
Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. 2009. The absolutely true diary of a part time indian. 2nd ed. New York & Boston: Little Brown & Company
Illustrates in pictures and words in a fictional yet factual way, the modern life of an adolescent Indian growing up on a reservation and attending various “white” schools. With wit and humour, the adolescent survives (barely) the trials of growing up. This book provides an amazingly accurate and understandable glimpse into native humor.
Allen, Paula Gunn. 1998. Off the reservation, reflections on boundary-bashing, border crossing loose cannons. Boston: Beacon Press
Alvord, Lori Arviso MD, and Elizabeth Lohen VanPelt. 2000. The scalpel and the silver bear
the first navajo woman surgeon combines western medicine and traditional healing
Songs have the power to heal… Not something you normally hear from your MD. This book does a very nice job of describing indigenous familial connections and understandings, and the authors go one step further. The insert HOPE: “Most Americans have lost their Tribe…find and establish groups of people who can nurture and support one another.” This provides an inside look at Indian intricacies and the songs that held them together. The author talks of speaking to people in their native tongue and how invaluable that is in building doctor-patient trust; it establishes the basis of Indigenous philosophy: cause and effect… “In a harmonious world, every effect has a cause.” Healing the mind and the spirit is essential to healing the body. Doctor heal thyself.
Bordas, Juana. 2007. Salsa, soul and spirit: Leadership for a multicultural age. San Franscisco, California: Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc
Bordas asserts that with a blend of multicultural components, especially with the intersections of indigineous knowledges amongst the cultures and races of the world, true leadership can come full circle to success. This “unity of the nations” can create a framework for social leadership when applied well. Additionally, the leader’s willingness to work side by side the people in a true, “all my relations” circular fashion, great things can happen. When the organization creates a “family,” the team can lead to greatness.
Brinton, Daniel G. 1999. The lenape and their legends with the complete test and symbols of the walam olum. Pennsylvania: Wennawoods Publishing
This book is useful for some historical notes about the origins of the Mohegan people as part of the Lenne Lenape Tribe on the banks of the river now known as the Hudson River. The Mohegan still have many social songs and social dances that trace back to the Lenape. We still use the same dyes as these ancestors of Mohegan. I have some concerns as to the accuracy of the book as a whole as it in some areas it contradicts things that I know to be different, at least as far as Mohegan’s Oral Tradition has relayed to me through generations. These contradictions can be verified or disputed by Mohegan Historian and Medicine Woman, Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel.
Bruchac, Joseph. 1992. Native american animal stories. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing
The author has some very clear personal rules about putting into writing that which is meant to be “oral tradition.” For example, Bruchac does not see his role as the one to take a story straight from oral to written, and he will only write stories that have been otherwise recorded first. Bruchac states this without condemnation — only stating that this is not HIS role. Bruchac has salvaged many a traditional story to place the stories in eternal use and enjoyment of people everywhere. Bruchac acknowledges that in some cases, only the people from whom the story originates will understand the more subtle meanings in the story.
Bruchac, Joseph, and Fidelia Fielding. 1978. Mundu wigo, mohegan poems. Volume XXIV, Number 3 ed. Marvin, SD: Blue Cloud Quarterly
This collection of Mohegan poems and stories is perhaps as close to the “source” as is possible. Recorded by respected story teller and fellow Native American Joseph Bruchac, the stories are those Mohegans grow up hearing even today. I heard these stories long before I ever found this booklet. Fidelia Fielding passed in 1908 as the last fluent speaker of the Mohegan language. She kept very rough written diaries of her language that had never been written prior to this. Fidelia was Cits Patunasho, Flying Bird, one of Mohegan’s culture keepers who was ‘grandmother’, mentor and teacher to Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon who lived into 3 centuries.
Bruchac, Joseph, and Thomas Locker. 1996. Between earth and sky, legends of native american sacred places. Singapore: Voyager Books
This is a book not only about the actual sacred places left on Turtle Island, but also about the sacredness within each of us, and within every special, holy place on Earth. Black Elk, a respected Lakota elder, once said, “…anywhere is the center of the Earth.” Told in a storyteller fashion, an uncle to a child, the book relates to the child, yet shares a very elder message to preserve and protect the sacred places left here on Turtle Island. The author, Joseph Bruchac, is an accomplished author, telling the stories of his Abenaki oral tradition as true to form as possible in the written English word.
Canby, William Jr. 1998. American indian law in a nutshell. MN: West Group
This book thoroughly investigates the meanings and limits of ‘sovereignty’ and the relationship between the Federal Government and the Tribes and Tribal government. Discussing sovereign immunity, Indian Treaties adn rights past and present. The author is…
Carlson, Laurie. 1994. More than moccasin, kid’s activity guide to traditional north american indian life. 2nd ed. Chicago, Il: Chicago Review Press, Inc
Rather “juvenile” in nature, the book provides a good start to some Indian traditional crafts and ways of life. In its simplicity, the book does have good lesson models and historical short notes that provide good example — a good start to programming. Overall, this is a good starting point for simple ideas and program activities.
Cox, Beverly, and Martin Jacobs. 1991. Spirit of the harvest, north american indian cooking. New York: Stuart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.
More than just a cookbook, this artwork in the kitchen shows appreciation for the art of companion gardening with an eye for the beauty of the garden as well as the function in traditional indigenous gardening. Pleasing the eye is as important as the taste buds, perhaps more so. From the sunflower plants tuberous roots called Jerusalem artichokes to the commonplace three sisters, the succulent recipes and the simple maple sugar sweet recipes speak to the spirit of the food as well as the tastebuds.
Cronan, William. 2003. Changes in the land: Indians, colonists, and the ecology of new england. 2nd, 1983 ed. NY: Hill and Wang
To the indigenous, the land is so much a part of the “who we are,” that the ecology of that land and the changes from generation to generation cannot be ignored. These changes change the people living on the land. This study of the situation of colonization and tragic conflict through the lens of the ecology is unique perhaps. There was a time that the forests of this land were such that you could race a horse through the trees at full speed. The mature forests hosted large trees that did not allow out of control undergrowth and brush. The people, the Indians, took dead stand for firewood, and carefully and ceremoniously took what they needed of live stands methodically thinning where thinning was needed and taking care of the forests. The “white man” destroyed and flattened the forests to the soil, forever changing the landscape of Turtle Island.
Davison, Faith, and Mohegan Archives. Longhouse citations.
Deloria, Vine Jr. 2006. The world we used to live in,
remembering the powers of the medicine man. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing
Department of Agriculture, United States. National invasive species information center: Emerald ash borer. in USDA [database online]. USA, 2010 [cited 02/07/2010 02/07/2010]. Available from http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eab.shtml
Diamond, Beverley. 2008. Native american music in eastern north america
This book is an indepth exploration into the heart of indigenous music in the northeast area of the Americas. In using each musical piece as a ‘point of departure,’ from past to present, from historical traditions to present day traditions. Included with the book is a CD with 28 musical pieces on it representing a wide variety of styles from Native American chants to Inuit traditions. As an “Ethnomusciologist,” the author considers music and how it impacts culture, religions, social roles, gender roles and how all of these are negotiated through music.
Fawcett, Melissa Jayne. 2000. Medicine trail
the life and lessons of gladys tantaquidgeon. Phoenix, AR: University of Arizona Press
Written by a Mohegan Medicine Woman about her mentor, her Mohegan Medicine Woman…
———. 1995. The lasting of the mohegans
part I, ed. The Mohegan Tribe. Mohegan: The Mohegan Tribe
This is the Mohegan “guidebook” to the galaxy… A firsthand account of history, art, stories, colors, symbols, history and relations. Written by Mohegan Historian about Mohegan
Fussell, Betty. 2004, 1992. The story of corn. New York: University of New Mexico Press
An amazing book about an amazing fruit that saved the world at least once, and may have its day again. Corn, when properly processed, can sustain human life… When dried, cracked and roasted in the ashes of the fire, then pounded into what Mohegan call Yokeag, Narragansett call Nokeag, or southern tribes call hominy, corn has protein, fat and all the of the vitamins necessary to live for some time… A family can grow enough corn to live on in only one acre, but needs 4 acres of wheat for the same nutritional value. When exported from the Americas to Europe, corn in its hardiness and easy to grow kernels quickly saved the impoverished of that continent from starvation as well.
George-Kanentiio, Doug. 2000. Iroquois culture & commentary. New Mexico: Clear Light Publishers
This book about the Iroquois by an Iroquois explores resilience and resistance of one of the final holdouts in the sovereignty battle with the United States and Canada. The Haudonesaunee are a politically fierce stronghold of a representative democracy still managed in the old way, with the clan mothers having the ultimate authority to even unseat the chief. The Confederacy papers of the United States are said to be based upon the Iroquois traditions of true democracy, but the Iroquois traditions were meant for all people, not only the upper class white male of which the beginnings of the United States government recognized. The Iroquois still argue to be admitted to the United Nations as a sovereign, but no one is willing to dishonor the big guns of the all powerful United States. This book was a surprise — a commentary and history of peaceable resistance to the dominant culture, the dominant laws, and the dominant tax structures of the colonizing society.
Goldbard, Arlene. 2006. New creative community, the art of cultural development. Oakland, CA: New Village Press
A sort of “workshop in a book,” Goldbard has written the manual on the Fourth Pillar of Cultural Sustainability. Goldbard…gotta work on this one… sm…
Goodman, Mary Virginia. 2001. Noank notes, the newspaper columns of mary virginia goodman. Groton, CT: Groton Public Library Information Center
Born in 1898, the year before Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Mohegan Medicine Woman who passed away in 2005. These are columns and stories published in the Groton News and the Norwich Bulletin from May 19, 1970 to 1988. Noank is a village of Groton, Connecticut on the shores of Long Island Sound. While not Mohegan, Goodman grew up in the midst of Mohegan chronicling life and death in the area in her personal columns. This provides a first hand documentary of what life was like in Mohegan in the 1900′s.
Hale, Janet Campbell. 1993. Bloodlines, odyssey of a native daughter. AZ: First University of Arizona Press
Described as an autobiographical work of fiction, Bloodlines tells the story of an American Indian woman lost from her roots, searching and yearning for something she does not quite understand. This seems to be the case for many in America — for what are we searching? Her journey takes her through a lot of pain and a lot of learning, full circle to her beginnings, to where her “memories begin” as she puts it, and for her children the author reestablishes that community, tribal connection to give them something that she lost — that “part of” something that is felt in a tribal community.
Hawkes, Jon. 2004. The fourth pillar of sustainability, culture’s essential role in public planning, ed. University Press.com. Australia: Cultural Development Network
An analysis of society first completed in Australia that encompasses what the author deems the four pillars of sustainability: ecological, social, economic and cultural sustainability. The author in attempts to define culture as “the way of life of a group of people” or as encompassing every aspect of human interaction, the author concludes that perhaps the question to be asked is “What isn’t culture?” rather than “What is culture?” Further, the author states in so many words that culture is not the leftovers or the residual, but the actual dynamic essence of society.
Hayden Taylor, Drew. 2005. Me funny. VAncouver, British Columbia: Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd.
This book can be likened to the guidebook to indigenous humor. Taylor is an Ojibway from Curve Lake First Nation in Canada. Lakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr, states about Taylor, “When a people can laugh at themselves and laugh at others and hold all aspects of life together without letting anyone drive them to extremes, then it would seem to me that the people can survive.” The book details, mostly by example, the social purposes of humour. Comedy is the irony of life, and it is that which illustrates the contradictions in Indigenous life. Taylor asserts that humour has been used to “…subvert white society and to counter colonization and stereotypes.”
———. 2004. Futile observations of a blue-eyed ojibway, funny you don’t look like one #4. VAncouver, British Columbia: Theytus Books Ltd.
Drew Hayden Taylor is accomplishing the work we in the MACS program hope to accomplish in some forms. While he, like me, cannot speak his native tongue “…after fourteen years in education in English.” Embarrassingly, he must humbly use English to tell his Ojibway stories, but he does the best he can with what he has at documenting the humour, the drama, the essence of being Native in Canada. The irony of being stopped at the airport and prevented from travel to the United States because of the diseases he might carry was not lost on Taylor.
Kerr, Walter. 1985. Tragedy & comedySimon & Schuster
LaDuke, Winona. 2002. Winona LaDuke reader, A collection of essential writings, ed. Margret Aldrich. Hong Kong: Voyageur Press, Inc
Deep into this book, LaDuke talks about a common theme for the MACS group: preserving the commons. She talks about how this country was founded on Iroquois Confederacy philosophies. She describes a very important Native American theme, that one can find throughout Indigenous America: when making a decision today, one must consider the impact of that decision on the 7th generation from now. Perspective. This is a collection of speeches, writings and articles compiled since 1979 that reflect the developed beliefs of the author who served as running mate to Ralph Nader on the Green Party Ticket. I met LaDuke at a reading in 2004 before her home burned to the ground. She is a powerful opinionated political force with which to be reckoned. She is an activist who is moved to action, not just speech, the founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and the Indigenous Wome’s Network. The politics of Indigenous communities live inside the politics of the America’s in a unique relationship of sovereignty, but we must investigate the politics of the larger picture to understand the founding nucleus.
Landwirth, Henri, and J. P. Hendricks. Private Printing. The gift of life, ed. Ellan Kanner. 1st ed.
The Gift of Life is about a man who came to America with nothing after surviving the Holocaust concentration camps, being left for dead with his head smashed in, and starvation. Henri Landworth started at the bottom rung as an employee in the hotel industry and finally built his own hotels. When Henri heard about a sick little girl named Amy who wanted nothing more than to visit Disney and Mickey before she died, Henri started putting plans in motion. Due to financial limitations, “red tape” with medical issues, and many other obstacles, Henri could not arrange Amy’s trip prior to her death. Henri vowed to himself that no ill child would ever suffer this unanswered feasible dream again. Henri built a resort dedicated to Make a Wish Kids. The resort has zero debt, hosts thousands of “wish families” a year in cute little houses with mail boxes and driveways, and magical play areas. There are pony rides, the most accessible pools and play areas known, and giant fairy tale creatures to tuck kids into bed. Henri’s vision founded a miracle place for very sick children. The leadership and ambition of a refuge from the Holocaust sets the bar high for anyone aspiring to build a dream.
Lester, Joan, Tom McFeat, Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh, William Turnbaugh, Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Jayne G. Fawcett, Ann McMullen, Trudie Lamb Richmond, and Handsman, Russell G. and Leone, Mark P. 1987, 2005. A key into the language of woodsplint backets, eds. Ann McMullen, Russell G. Handsman. 2nd ed. Washington, CT: American Indian Archaeological Institute
This book hits upon many issues which we have touched upon in class discussions about archives versus museums versus cultural sustainability. The book begins with a compare and contrast of a woodsplint basket on a museum like pedestal, in starkness and coldness as compared and contrasted to an interior of a Micmac wigwam in Nova Scotia (1834, watercolor depiction) littered with busy woodsplint baskets all doing their respective storage, keeping and carrying jobs… A basket is also another way of keeping a story in the Native American traditions. The decorations on a Mohegan basket are never random — these decorations tell a story about the community at the time the basket was created. Many Canadian Micmacs still earn a decent living making woodsplint baskets from the splints of the Ash Tree. Nearly every Mohegan learns at least the beginnings of basket weaving as a child from one or more of our elders.
Maynard, Sharon Accomac. 2010. Shwi numsihsak
Three Sisters Song, home recording, Susan Meehan vocals, Linda Stewart percussion (gourd rattle). The song speaks the language not heard for many generations of Mohegan. In song, it is fluid. In speaking, it comes much harder.
McGibbon, Bill. 2007. The deep economy, the wealth of communities and the durable future. NY, NY: Holt Paperbacks
This book is a simple yet complex exploration into human societies as they have evolved in the modern era, and how these societies must change in order to sustain life. The author explores what truly makes us “happy” and what has failed to make us happy in our over abundant societies of STUFF. McGibbon concludes that we must work toward supporting and sustaining our local economies and societies in order to survive. The crisis of “global warming” and of running out of our non-sustainable petroleum products is real and not imagined. If we re-learn how to live locally, perhaps it is not too late to tip the scale in the other direction again. Hope.
Mohegan Tribe, The. The secret guide, ed. Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel. 2nd ed. Uncasville, CT: The Mohegan Tribe
A guidebook to Mohegan Sun Casino, this booklet contains many Mohegan stories and traditions explained in a simplistic manner as a self-paced guidebook to Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun is a unique tirbally themed casino completely steeped in Mohegan culture. Compiled and editted by Tribal Historian and Medicine Woman, Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, the book shares tribal symbols, the Creation Story, and many tidbits of information about Mohegan as part of this land on the shores of the Thames River.
Oberg, Michael Leroy. 2003. Uncas, first of the mohegans. New York: Cornell University Press
The author explores the relationship between Uncas and the early European settlers to the what is now known as Connecticut area of Turtle Island. Oberg describes Chief Uncas as perhaps the most influential Native American leader in the colonial era. His true friendship and alliance with the English sealed the survival of his people well into the present time. Written in a historical perspective, the book perhaps under-emphasizes the importance of the Uncas’ people and culture and stories (“myths” as the author calls them), but the book overall seems historically accurate.
Pritchard, Evan T. 1997. No word for time, the way of the algonquin people. Tulsa, OK: Chesnut Oak Books, LLC
It is hard to summarize this book and do it justice… It speaks in poetry of the indigenous languages of the earth that are disappearing in their poetic magic; the trees and plants of the earth that are disappearing and how all of these things affect the people of the earth. The author goes to the source, learns in the old way from an Algonquin elder, Grandfather Turtle. The author spends many moons learning in the old way, patiently, practicing memory, learning by making mistakes — without pen and paper, through the sweat lodge and fasting and visions. Pritchard’s wisdom calls upon Asian theorists Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Confucious, and Hindu wisdom — of the “real sages” and the “old ones” and the “real people” of the Lenne Lanape. The parallels amongst the indigenous religions and cultures of the world are discussed . As the author states, “If you can’t bear making mistakes, don’t show up.” (p. 149) While forgiving and compassionate, true Algonquin’s will never fail an opportunity to point out “user error” and to make a lesson of it — usually a memorable lesson!
Shepard, Odell, and William Shepard. 1946. Holdfast gaines. 1st ed. New York: Macmillan Company
As historical fiction, this novel written in 1946, gives a glimpse of Connecticut’s rich Indian history, and a taste of the culture of the area in the early 1800′s. The historical figure and main character is Holdfast Gaines, also known in the Mohegan Tribe as Sleeping Bear, nephew to Samson Occum. While the piece is fiction, there is to be found some historical facts and places. The setting is “Mohegan” including some important historical sites. The account of Cochegan Rock is historically accurate, as are the area farms and other characters in the book. This is a good source to get a flavor for the culture of a time past in the Mohegan homeland.
Simmons, William S. 1938, 1986. Spirit of the new england tribes, indian history and folklore. 2nd ed. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England
Simmons went and lived among the people, in addition to being an academic anthropologist, so his stories often have connection with living Indians, and are based upon interviews with real people. This book compiles documentation of folklore and history and the changes of the folklore of the Northeast with the changes in history happening all around it. The book demonstrates the ever-changing faces of folklore to reflect the needs of the people telling and hearing the story on any given day. The sections about Mohegan stories are “as I have heard the stories” from my elders time and time again, so they ring true. This seems a valuable and well-accounted source.
Speck, Frank. 1980. Languages and lore of the long island indians. Suffolk County Archaeological Association IV,
Stands, John, Jacob Thomas, and et al. 2001. Native american perspectives, A historical reader, ed. McDougal Littell, a Houghton Mifflin Company. Illinois: McDougal Littell, a Houghton Mifflin Company
A textbook style chapter by chapter run down of Indian history from pre-contact predictions to present day conflicts. The book journeys from contact through the Andrew Jackson removal policies and the Cherokee Trail of Tears, through the New Deal arrangements, Indian Boarding Schools and resistance. In many sections, there are first hand historical accounts from the people who lived the trails and trials and walked the road. This book seems to be the beginning of redemption for history told for centuries at the dominant culture’s hands.
Thomas, David Hurst. 2000. Skull wars, kennewick man, archeology & the battle for native american identity. 1st ed. New York: Basic Books, Perseus
Tree Canada. Tree killers: Emerald ash borer beetle. 2009 [cited 02/07/2010 2010]. Available from http://www.treecanada.ca/tree-killers/emerald-ash-borer.htm
Print(0)1996The Mohegan Constitution is a critical piece to study, especially the Preamble, and the establishment of the governing bodies to begin to understand the structure and foundation of Mohegan government.MoheganMoheganMohegan Tribe.
Voight, Virginia Frances. 1963. Uncas, sachem of the wolf people, the story of a great indian chief. 1st ed. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc.
This book claims to be the “…true story of a famous chief of the Eastern Woodland Indians.” The book documents the establishment of the “Mohegan Way”of forming alliances and deep friendships with their neighbors. Even the book’s dedication appealed to my senses as it mentions walking the woodlands of Eastern Connecticut on the “artist’s trail.” The author credits most of her information to the Tantaquidgeon family on the hill who established the Tantaquidgeon Museum in 1931. The book illustrates Uncas’ critical decision to befriend the English settlers of Norwich, Connecticut. This decision would prove essential to the Mohegan people’s survival. Uncas perhaps ponders what his father Oweneco woudl think of his legacy of friendship with the white man… A later publication of this book was published by the Mohegan Tribe in ????, and it should be interesting to compare any notable changes.
Voight, Virginia Frances, and Gordon Laite. 1972. Algonquin indian legends, close to the rising sun. IL: Garrard Publishing Company
A simple early 20th century collection of Algonquin “folk tales” of the Wabenaki as they are described in the forward. The stories are true to Native American content and character containing the famous mischievous trickster Glooscap who is known throughout the Algonquin by a few other names as well. Interestingly, the book is dedicated to a Mohegan of my generation, Bethany Fawcett, sister to our current Medicine Woman.
Wilbur, Keith. 1976. The new england indians. The Global Pequot Press
Zobel, Melissa Tantaquidgeon. 2004. A novel oracles. New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press
When taken apart from the whole, there are parts of this novel that could be construed as divisive. When taken ‘whole’ this book forewarns of the loss of culture, the loss of respect for the living stories of the artifacts, and the potential loss of a nation. When no room is left for the gifts of the Creator, the story-bearing artifacts, the people forget, and soon, the people were no more. When one leaves no space for song and dance and drum, the people are lost from the Creator. This novel tells of a valuable lesson if the reader opens their heart.
