With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Gladys Tantaquidgeon
Education/Curation
1899 – 2005
Preservation of Mohegan tribal traditions and records, instrumental in Federal recognition of the Mohegan Tribe in 1994. Co-founder of the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum. Worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs to promote Native American artwork as a method of preserving tribal autonomy.
- Biography/Description of Work
Tantaquidgeon was born June 15, 1899, on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville. During the early years of her life, she intermittently attended non-Indian schools but never graduated from high school. She entered the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 20 where, despite her lack of formal education, she studied anthropology under the renowned scholar Frank Speck. In 1942, Tantaquidgeon published A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practice and Folk Belief in which she documented the traditional practices and herbal medicine of coastal tribes of the East. Her efforts, as well as those of her father and brother, led to the creation of the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum in Uncasville in 1931—which is today the oldest Indian-run and owned museum in the United States. Tantaquidgeon also served the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs as a community worker on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Here, her efforts resulted in the promotion of Native American artwork as a method of preserving tribal autonomy. Native communities were able to benefit economically while encouraging the development of original Native American art. Ceremonial practices outlawed by the United States government were included in this art revival, and Tantaquidgeon’s efforts led to a reversal of the ban on centuries-old practices, such as the Sundance and the Raindance. Her experiences with reservation life on the Plains made her more conscious of the social issues women faced and this influenced her work as a librarian at the Niantic Women’s Prison during the 1940s. Tantaquidgeon’s success in maintaining the records of her people has been cited as significant in the federal recognition of the Mohegan Tribe in 1994. Since 1960, only 8% of petitioning tribes have been awarded federal recognition, but Tantaquidgeon’s preservation of Mohegan documents, such as records of marriages, births, deaths, and graduations, provided evidence that helped the Mohegan Nation achieve that recognition.
- Sources view
- Mohegan Tribe web site mohegan.nsn.us
Zobel, Melissa Tantaquidgeon, Medicine Trail: the life and lessons of Gladys Tantaquidgeon, U of Az Press 2000.
Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/nyregion/02tantaquidgeon.html?_r=0
Cunningham, Janice P., Warner, Elizabeth A., Historic and Architectural Resource Survey: Town of Montville CT, Connecticut Historical Commission, 2001. HRIs by Newport Collaborative Architects, 1997.
Connecticut History web site: http://connecticuthistory.org/the-story-trail-of-voices/
Connecticut Womens Hall of Fame: http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/education-preservation/gladys-tantaquidgeon/#.Uv5sQfldW1U - Associated Resource(s)