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Mohegan-Pequot (also known as Mohegan-Pequot-Montauk, Secatogue, Stockbridge, and Shinnecock-Poosepatuck; dialects include Mohegan, Pequot, Montauk, Niantic, and Shinnecock) is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken in parts of present-day New England and Long Island.〔Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World''. 16th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics〕 ==History== The Mohegan Indian Tribe was historically based in central southern Connecticut. While originally part of the Pequot people, it gradually became independent and served as allies of English colonists in the Pequot War of 1637, which broke the power of that formerly dominant tribe in the region. In reward, the English gave Pequot captives to the Mohegan. In 1933 John E. Hamilton, also known as Chief Rolling Cloud, was appointed Grand Sachem for Life by his mother, Alice Storey, through the traditional selection process of chiefs based on heredity. She was a direct descendant of Uncas, the great 17th-century leader of the Mohegan Nation, and of Tamaquashad, Grand Sachem of the Pequot Nation. In Mohegan tradition, the position of tribal leadership called Grand Sachem had always been hereditary through the maternal line. Gladys Tantaquidgeon, who died at the age of 106 in 2005, served for years as the Tribe's medicine woman and unofficial historian. She became an anthropologist and worked for a decade with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Returning to Connecticut, she operated her family's tribal Tantaquidgeon Museum for more than 50 years, beginning in 1947. It was one of the first museums to be owned and operated by Native Americans. John Hamilton was a key figure among Native American leaders initiating late twentieth century land claims suits. Tribes in the Northeast had long interaction with European Americans, which had resulted in many of them becoming nearly landless. Settlement of land claims suits in the late 20th and 21st centuries was related to federal recognition for a number of Indian nations, particularly for the so-called "state tribes." These were tribes along the East Coast who had been recognized by the English Crown long before individual colonial or state governments had been established. But, as the Native people lost their traditional lands and were not assigned reservations, they did not maintain their sovereign legal status associated with federal recognition. In the 1960s, during a period of rising activism among Native Americans, Hamilton filed a number of land claims authorized by the "Council of Descendants of Mohegan Indians." The group had some 300 members at the time. In 1970 the Montville faction of the Mohegans expressed its dissatisfaction with Hamilton's land-claims litigation. They wanted a change in direction. When the Hamilton supporters left the meeting, the remainder elected Courtland Fowler as their new leader. Notes of that Council meeting referred to Hamilton as ''Sachem''.〔("Contemporary History of Mohegan, 1933-2002" ), Native American Mohegans〕 The group led by John Hamilton worked with the attorney Jerome Griner in federal land claims through the 1970s. The Fowler faction opposed this. In addition, a Kent, Connecticut property owners' organization, with native and non-native members, opposed the Hamilton land claims and the petition for federal recognition, as the people were worried about effects on their properties. ===Federal process for recognition=== In response to the desire of more tribes to gain federal recognition, in 1978, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established a formal administrative process and criteria to be satisfied to prove cultural continuity. That year, as authorized by the Council of Descendants, Hamilton submitted the Mohegan Tribe's first petition for Federal recognition. John Hamilton died in 1988. In his will, he named Eleanor Fortin as the Grand Sachem of the Mohegan people. She became the leader of the "Hamilton group," which continued to contend with the "Fowler faction" over tribal policy. Despite their disagreements, both groups continued to participate in tribal activities and to identify as members of the Mohegan people. By 1989, the Fowler faction had revived Hamilton's 1978 petition for federal recognition, which had been dormant for some years. The BIA's preliminary finding was that the Mohegan had not satisfied the criteria of documenting continuity in social community, and political authority and influence as a tribe through the twentieth century. In 1990, the Mohegan under Fowler submitted a detailed response to meet the BIA's concerns. They included compiled genealogies and other records, some of which had been collected and preserved by Hamilton and his followers. For instance, Eleanor Fortin had allowed the MTIC researchers access to records pertaining to the Mohegan Congregational Church in Montville. The researchers had assured Fortin that if Federal recognition were achieved, it would cover the entire surviving Mohegan population. They also used records maintained by Gladys Tantaquidgeon, who had kept genealogy and vital statistics of tribal members for her anthropological research.〔〔(Associated Press, "Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Mohegans' Medicine Woman, Is Dead at 106" ), ''New York Times'', 2 November 2005〕 In 1990, the MTIC ruled the tribe's membership be restricted to documented descendants from a single family, ca. 1860. This criteria excludes some of the Hamilton followers. By law, a Federally recognized tribe has the authority to determine its own rules for membership. The MTIC tried to sue other Mohegan over their use of the tribal identity as well as their crafting, but they did so unsuccessfully.〔()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mohegan-Pequot language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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