Happy Samson Occom Day!

We want to wish every member of the Brothertown Indian Nation a healthy and joyful day of remembrance for our most famous founder (one of several who were instrumental in our founding). On this day we want to offer many interesting links in honor of Samson Occom and the Brothertown tribe. This is just a small sample of what is available on the Brothertown website.

Please take a moment today and through the weekend to become engaged and involved again in learning about our heritage. Reflect on our Tribal beginnings and the centuries of sacrifice made by our Brothertown ancestors to get us to July 14, 2023. The links below are presented in honor of both Samson Occom and our tribal history:

Items to read, download, and Ponder our great ancestor whom we owe so much to…

• The Resolution copy passed by the Tribal Council establishing July 14th as “Samson Occom Day”
• Download your own copy of the 1899 original printing of “Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England“:(no copyright infringement of the original book published which was published 124 years ago by William DeLoss Love in 1899.)
• Map of Connecticut circa 1625 Indian Trails, Villages, Sachemdoms: (no known copyright) Map housed at the Boston Public Library. – Users can zoom on the image for easier reading of the original Indian names used by our ancestors – missing: any post colonization cities and town names.
•  Samson Occom, journal, 1743 December 6 to 1748 November 29 (professionally transcribed from Dartmouth College – Occom Circle).
• The Lord’s Prayer translated into Greek, French and Latin. Samson Occom’s early student work (exact date unknown). Handwriting is Occom’s but it is somewhat different from his letters and journals.
• Samson Occom, letter, to Mary Occom – Letter is undated, yet written during the Fundraising Tour in England, which would put it somewhere between 1765 and 1768.
• SERMON AT THE ORDINATION OF MR SAMSON OCCOM AUGUST 29, 1759, printed in 1761 by James Parker & company New York (the first page is original, and the following is an easier to read English transcription.
• SAMSON OCCOM, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, UNDATED: The legibility of Occom’s usually clear hand but heavily mitigated by editorial additions and deletions, most likely written in the 19th-century.
• Sketch of the Brothertown Indians by Thomas Commuck – Aug 22, 1855, published 1859 Wisconsin Historical Society

Relevant videos:

• The Forgotten Episode: Samson Occom – based on the Betrayal of Samson Occom…
• “Brothertown History | Tribal Histories” (PBS Wisconsin)
• The Mohegan People: History, Culture & Affiliations
• The Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center Virtual Tour and history
• The Narragansett Indian Tribe
• The Montauk/Montaukett People & Nation: Over A Century, Of Trying to Be Recognized as A People
• Listen to their voices: A film highlighting Eastern Pequot voices about their heritage, culture, and the longstanding indigenous archaeology project
• “The Brothertown Tribe in the 1980’s with Lani Bartelt and Mark Baldwin” (Brothertown Forward)

Additional Podcasts and Radio Shows:

• “The Betrayal of Samson Occom” from “The Public’s Radio”  
• “Journey To Brothertown“ from Mosaic Podcast
  • Betrayed by his mentor Eleazar Wheelock and wary of all colonists, Samson Occom forms a new American Indian tribe in the mid-1770s and leads his followers on a journey further west.
• “The Brothertown Fight For Recognition” from The Public’s Radio
• “Samson Occom the Man” with Mohegan Elder Beth Regan from Grating the Nutmeg (Connecticut Explored).