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Mark your calendar, and plan on attending this long-awaited event at the Oneida Nation’s 200-year dedication Breakfast Event. The event will take place at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Green Bay. The doors open at 7:45 a.m., and the Brothertown Indian Archival Presentation begins around 9:25, which closes out the breakfast event.

Brothertown relatives are invited to be part of the exchange and celebration of Oneida Nation’s bicentennial. BIN Chairwoman Phyllis Tousey and BIN THPO Courtney Gerzetich will be part of the event, making remarks. Many have worked tirelessly in securing and protecting the Brothertown Collection, and we hope you’ll join in on marking this special occasion, where BIN will show its gratitude to our Oneida relatives.

Brothertown and Oneida leaders gathered in 2022 to begin planning the transfer of the Brothertown Collection. Left to right front row is Oneida Councilman Kirby Metoxen, Oneida Chairman Tehassi Hill, Former Brothertown Indian Nation Chairman Bob Fowler, Oneida Treasurer Cristina Danforth, Brothertown Indian Nation Tribal Historical Preservation officer Courtney Cottrell Gerzetich, Vice Chairman Brandon Yellowbird-Stevens. In the back from left to right is Former Oneida Councilwoman Marie Summers, Oneida Secretary Lisa Liggins, and Oneida Councilman David Jordan.

In addition to the breakfast event on Tuesday, Oneida Nation has planned a full week of events to mark the bicentennial. A full schedule can be found here.

For any question email Dawn: BrothertownOffice@BrothertownIndians.org

Later this month, the Brothertown Indian Nation, along with its partners in the Winnebago Wild Rice Revitalization Project, will be hosting students for a three-day immersive internship to learn about wild rice and our restoration efforts in the Lake Winnebago watershed. Interns will be provided with a stipend which covers all lodging, meals, and travel. Individuals 16 and older are eligible to participate.

This year’s experience will begin on July 23rd, and go through July 26th. For more information, please check out the schedule and details here. For those interested, contact Jessie Conaway at (608) 790-7425 or jessie.conaway@wisc.edu.

Mayom beds growing in the Lake Poygan watershed. Photo courtesy of Jessie Conaway.

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).

2023 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Samson Occom and the 4th annual tribal celebration of “Samson Occom Day” on July 14.  This Brothertown holiday was established in June of 2020 by the Nation’s Council at their monthly meeting.  The resolution, which passed unanimously, cites, in part, the Reverend Occom’s sizable role in the organization and the propagation of the Brothertown tribe.  

Samson Occom (Mohegan/Brothertown) was born in a wigwam (see right) in present day Connecticut in 1723. He converted to Christianity in his late teens, received an education through the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock and went out among his brethren with the dual intent of converting and educating them.

In December of 1765, in an effort to serve his people and answer what he felt was God’s call, Occom sailed to England to raise funds for Eleazar Wheelock’s Indian Charity School. He spent over 2 years preaching and raising money in Britain where he was well received and helped to collect, by today’s standards, the equivalent of about 2 million dollars.

When he returned to America in 1768, Occom found that Wheelock, instead of living up to his promise to care for Occom’s wife and children in his absence, had left them destitute. Later, the school he had helped to raise funds for and expected to be built in Connecticut and educate Indians, was moved to New Hampshire, and educated mainly whites. Occom felt this was a serious misuse of the funds donors had entrusted to him and a rift began between he and his mentor that never healed before Wheelock’s death.

Toward the end of his life, Occom was involved in the formation of a new tribe formed from portions of seven Native communities in New England. This new tribe began in New York on land given them by the Oneida. Occom noted in his journal entry of November 7, 1785, “…we named our town by the name of Brotherton, in Indian Eeyawquittoowauconnuck.”

Occom died on July 14, 1792, but his contributions continue to be felt to this day. His hymns are still sung, he is honored with a feast day among the Brothertown Indians and in the Episcopal Church, his numerous journals, letters, and sermons are studied in countless colleges and universities, and several Native American tribes have been helped by his writings in their re-recognition process. He was an integral part of the founding of Dartmouth College (the school created with the funds he helped raise), father of numerous descendants, and a co-founder of the Brothertown Tribe.

A few links to read in celebration of our great ancestor whom we owe so much to...

• The Resolution copy passed by the Tribal Council establishing July 14th as “Samson Occom Day”
• The Forgotten Episode: Samson Occom – YouTube
• Every one should consider Downloading 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.)
• View and read: Samson Occom, journal, 1743 December 6 to 1748 November 29 (professionally transcribed) (Abstract: Occom records his travels from 6 December 1743 to 29 November 1748.) from Dartmouth College – Occom Circle.)
• Some videos on each of our parent tribes we all decend from:
• 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 Department of Government Efficiency is terminating leases for at least 16 federal offices in Wisconsin, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Ashland.

By Danielle Kaeding – March 4, 2025

The Ashland office employs more than 40 full-time workers, according to a company fact sheet. Tanenbaum’s subsidiary RTD Ashland-BIA, LLC leased the building to the federal government for nearly $645,000 a year, according to data from the GSA website. DOGE claims terminating the lease will save $1.5 million. The office was under a 10-year lease that was set to expire in January 2028.

Tehassi Hill, chair of the Oneida Nation, said it’s an important office to tribes in Wisconsin. He said they work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on real estate transactions, reporting mortgages and the process of converting individually owned properties into lands that are held in trust for tribes by the federal government. He said it’s unclear what would happen to the office’s employees, which would have the most significant impact on tribes.

To learn more about this developing story, click here to view the entire article on Wisconsin Public Radio’s news website.

This update involves Dawn (during her busy daily duties) and the bottle challenge that she is spearheading for needed funds for the new cultural center to open. This is urgent as it has a deadline of July 15th.

So, let’s hear Dawn talk more about it:

“The nation has been put to a test. I had a gentleman stop by the office to spend some time with me, going over his family line, looking at the museum, etc. He asked about learning more about the Bottle Challenge and then made another challenge on top of that!

His challenge is from July 1 ending on July 15, then he will match all donations up to $1,500.00! (please be sure note in the comments section for the “Bottle drive for the Cultural Center”). (click here to donate)

Remember, I put a challenge out there to fill any bottle with change last month, then cash it in and send a check, money order or pay on pay-pal. My goal is $5,000; this will help with the few items that need to be fixed at our new Culture Center before we can do an Open House. SO, the challenge is on, we need your donations in the office from July 1st to July 15th.

Watch out Mr. Matthews!”

To donate and support this “should not fail” challenge – Click here….

Let’s all answer the call! I for one just sent my $100 donation on the above link – to this worthy cause which Dawn has worked so hard on… we simply can’t miss losing this generous additional support!

The Tribe is calling for all 2023 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.

Always remember and celebrate your success, there was a time when our people could not obtain even a basic education or have a chance at 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, etc.) and email the website here...

193 years ago, unbeknownst to our Ancestors, the US government set in motion something we as Brothertown’s are still dealing with in 2023.

May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.

The Act established a process whereby the president could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives and guaranteed that the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United States Government forever.

With the Act in place, Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast portion of the country. By the end of President Jacksons presidency almost 70 removal treaties were signed, and nearly 50,000 eastern Indians were moved further west. Many of our Brothertown ancestors chose a different path rather than be removed from their lands for a 3rd time. Ultimately signing the 1838 treaty which became The Act of 1839.

A sad note to is The Indian Removal Act by the Government, was that it set in motion the Trail of Tears, which attributed to the genocide of thousands of American Indians and the death of one-quarter Cherokee people alone.

Original resource article through Yahoo News and Native News Online

Calling all Brothertowns! There is an urgent request from Dawn for volunteers to cover the fundraising event for June 7, 8 and 9. See Chart below of times needed critically needed for coverage.

This event and full coverage is vital for help funding our new Cultural Center

Please Contact Dawn at 920 949-9964 or email at dmkraintz@brothertownindians.org

On this Memorial Day, please take a moment to reflect on our fallen warriors.   The Brothertown Indians have had a proud history of Serving since the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil war, and every war to the present day. While having family picnics and other events, remember our ancestors and family who have fallen.

To use a sentence or two from the recent Smithsonian magazine: “Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian men and women have always been defenders of their lives, lands, and way of life. The call to serve in the U.S. armed forces has resonated for Native people from the country’s founding—long before they were recognized as American citizens—to the present day. At the same time, Native communities have never taken casualties lightly. Native nations pay homage to fallen warriors as heroes with ceremonies, feasts, and prayers—formal, reverent memorials held throughout the year.”