Fundraising with a Purpose

To gain recognition, the Brothertown must pursue restoration legislation in Congress.

The Tribal Council knows that extraordinarily generous donations of money and time from members, academics, and legal counsel made it possible for the Brothertown to sustain the recognition effort for more than 3 decades. This effort sometimes necessarily distracted the Tribe from other equally important pursuits, including curating the existing collection of Brothertown artifacts (not to be confused with the Brothertown Collection acquired by the Oneida), expanding and consolidating our collection, and creating museum-level display, education, and storage facilities.

Like all Brothertown, the Tribal Council is aware that if we were to lose our history, gaining recognition would be of little value.  At the same time, the lack of recognition makes retaining and protecting our history far more challenging and expensive than it might be with recognition.

From discussions with members and in light of its constitutional responsibilities, the Tribal Council senses that both efforts should move forward. 

First, however, the Council would like to thank those who have sustained and expanded our collection, our library, our understanding and our history, spending countless hours in graveyards, in newspaper stacks, courthouse basements, libraries, in interviews, and in research nooks and crannies.  We also thank those who have worked so hard for recognition, giving up evenings and weekends to spend time in libraries, newspaper stacks, courthouse basements, in interviews, and in endless research.

Sometime soon we will ask for more from you, and from all of the Brothertown Nation.  The fundraising will be purposeful, and it and a more extensive plan will support both efforts.

But for now, thank you.