If you have attended Tribal events and have photos we are asking members to please feel free to send them to the Website committee here…
These photos are invaluable to show the engagement and inclusiveness of the Brothertown Nation today. This will help in our attempt highlight our Tribe to visitors to our site in the restoration process.
Examples of current galleries we have put up include:
Calling for all 2022 Brothertown Indian Nation Graduates – please let us know as we are preparing our annual honor of all our Youth celebrating milestones in their educational accomplishments.
Remember, there was a time when our people could not obtain even a basic education or consider going on to a college education and so we do not take it lightly. The Tribe is proud of each and every one of you!
Please include a digital color Photo (and additional information: School, Town, State, Degree, et) and email here...
*This is an updated reprint of Brothertown Member Dr. Faith Ottery’s release from 2021.
The Reverend Samson Occom, born as a member of the Mohegan nation near New London, CT in 1723, is an integral part of history and legacy of the Brothertown Indian Nation, head quartered in Fond du Lac. As the day of Occom’s birth in 1723 is not documented, his death on July 14, 1792, is celebrated as Samson Occom Day and was officially acclaimed as such by a Brothertown Indian Nation Council on June 20, 2020. Occom’s 300 commemoration of his birth will be recognized in 2023.
The early and lasting impact of Samson Occom’s has been broadly recognized beyond the scope of the Brothertowns (see resources below), with July 14 also recognized as the Day of Samson Occom, Witness to the Faith in New England in the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church.
Beyond the well-known history as one of the first and foremost English-speaking native missionaries in early New England, Occom:
Was one of the first Native Americans to publish his writings in English and the first Native American to write his autobiography.
Was critical to the founding of Dartmouth College, recognized by the Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth College with erection of a memorial in 2019 on the site of Moor’s Charity School in Columbia, CT. This memorial is to commemorate and honor “Samson Occom for his contributions to the education of Native Americans and the founding of Dartmouth College.”
Is recognized by named locations throughout New England, especially New Hampshire and Connecticut
Has been honored with named recognitions such as the following:
The Endowed Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth
The Endowed Samson Occom Legacy Award for American Indian and Native medical students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
World War II, United States Liberty Ship SS Samson Occom
Join us in learning more about Samson Occom to celebrate his life and influence and the history and influence of Brothertown Indian Nation (some of these listings below link to additional information)
Below are several resources that you may find of interest in learning more about Sampson Occom and that Below are several resources that you may find of interest in learning more about Sampson Occom and that document Brothertown presence and history over more than 3 centuries. All can be located online for download (see select hyperlinks), and many are available the Brothertown Store or through any number of book sellers. To add to this listing or if you need help in locating a resource, contact brothertownoffice@brothertownindians.org.
A man called Sampson: The Ancestry and Progeny of Sampson, a Mashantucket Pequot Indian, Born in What is Now New London County, Connecticut, including Brief Descriptions of Family Connections to other Historic Native American Family Groups, the Ancient Pequot Tribe, the Pequot War, the Brothertown Tribe of New York, and the Brothertown tribe of Wisconsin. Will and Rudi Ottery 1989
Letters Home from the Brothertown “Boys” [a remarkable volume of handwritten and transcribed letters home from Brothertown Indian men who fought in the Civil War] Andrea R. Brucker and Caroline K Andler 2011
Image Credit: “Change of Seasons” by Bryant White. (White Historic Art, whitehistoricart.com)
While the Patriots had relatively little success in counteracting these British alliances with many of the Indian nations, most notably the Iroquois and Cherokee, they were successful in attaining their own allies.
The first official commitment to employing Native Americans by Congress was on May 25, 1776, when it resolved “That the Commander in Chief be authorized and instructed to employ in the Continental Armies a number of Indians not exceeding _______” (the number to be employed was agreed upon in June 1776 when Congress set the number “not exceeding two thousand men”). Following the call for allies, Congress relied upon the “New England Indians, [who] supported their colonial neighbors,” such as the Penobscot, Nova Scotia, Mashantucket, Pequot, Brotherton, and St. Johns. On July 8, 1776, Congress resolved that Washington had permission “to call to our Aid so many of…” these New England Indians. (Passage taken from “‘Rebels and Indians’: The Participation of and Relationship between Native Americans and the American Patriots during the Revolutionary War 1775-1783 – by Bryan Rindfleisch, 2007)
An Important occurrence of Brothertown history happened in February of 1776 in a letter from George Washington to Joseph Johnson. Taken from the National Archives, the letter begins:
“Sir,
I am very much pleased to find by the Strong recommendations you produce, that we have amongst our Brothers of the Six Nations a person who can explain to them, the Sense of their Brothers, on the dispute between us and the Ministers of Great Britain; you have seen a part of our Strength, and can inform our Brothers, that we can withstand all the force, which those who want to rob us of our Lands and our Houses, can send against us… You can read the entire correspondence here…
Take a moment this 4th of July to remember our Brothertown ancestors who helped create and forge this new nation with their sacrifice,
The known names of our ancestors include (Their names have been proudly placed on our Veteran Memorial Wall (view here…):
The Revolutionary War (1775-1783):
John Adams
Samuel Adams
Solomon Adams
Timothy Brushel
Andrew Currycomb
Christopher Harry
Joseph Johnson
Daniel Mossuck
James Niles
Thomas Occom
David Occom
Thomas Patchauker
John Paul
Abraham Simons
Emanuel Simons
James Simons
John Skeesuck
Benjamin Toucee
Roger Wauby
“We Keep a Fire For the Dead”
“Nuwacônumumun yoht wáci napukak”
We keep a fire for the dead whose spirits walk before us
Who, shoes exchanged for eagle’s wings, now sing angelic chorus
Though they no longer walk the land in Brothertown today
Greeting relatives, I am honored to be elected Chair of the Brothertown Indian Nation. I pledge to do my very best to address the important issues facing the Tribe at this time including restoration. I want to share a little of my personal background and history and how my previous experiences will benefit the Tribe.
In my family being an Indian was a big deal and something we were always proud of. My Dad, Phil Tousey, went to the Indian Boarding school at Red Springs, near Gresham Wisconsin, when he was 5 years old. I grew up in Beaver Dam, WI and I remember as a kid we would often go “up north” and attend church at the old mission at Red Springs. My Dad and his brothers really rocked that little church. I can still hear them singing.
My Mother was not native but always supported my Dad and his commitment to the Tribe. My parents got married in Fond du Lac, WI rather than in my mother’s home state of North Carolina because at that time inter-racial marriage was illegal. Like many other families in our tribe my parents worked on recognition together, my Mother on various committees and Dad on the Tribal Council as Vice- Chairman. My parents worked on the historical exhibit that traveled around the state in 1982, as part of the events celebrating the 150 th anniversary of the Brothertown Indians in Wisconsin. I was working at Mount Senario College in those days and asked my boss, the college president, Dr. Robert Powless from Oneida to be one of the speakers at the capital celebration for the Year of the Brothertown. The re-recognition effort started in 1978 when the federal government established the recognition process later renamed Federal Acknowledgement and was for me the beginning of my working on the issue of recognition. During that time I was working in Indian education at the college level. Education has always been important to the Brothertown people and my experience providing educational opportunities to Indian students will help strengthen the Tribe’s educational outreach to the public as well as to tribal members. Promoting the history, culture and contributions of the Brothertown Indians to the broader community is extremely important.
For many years I was the co-owner of several family Businesses: specifically Car Washes, Fireworks Sales, retail Swimming Pools and Spas sales and construction. Running a business is a real learning experience as some of you may have already learned. Financial management is an essential part of the Tribe’s continued success and impacts future grant opportunities, land acquisition and after restoration the management of funds coming from the federal government to a federally recognized tribe. I’ve dealt with many different kinds of financial issues as a program manager, a business owner, and a partner in an Indian law firm.
I have had a wide range of experiences over the past 25 years involving Indian child welfare cases, criminal defendants in tribal, state and federal court, Indian tribes and tribal agencies. These experiences have helped prepare me to be the leader of the Brothertown Indian Nation at this important time in history. I thank you for support and with your help we will build a stronger Indian Nation and achieve restoration.
