Lancelot Gumbs sits beside a large wooden frame drum. Animal hide is stretched over the rim. Gumbs reflects on the drum鈥檚 importance in his life.
He鈥檚 played since he was about nine years old. Its rhythms, he says, are 鈥渁lmost otherworldly.鈥�
When drumming, he says, 鈥溾�測ou鈥檙e really deep into the songs. It takes me to another place personally.鈥�
For generations, the drum has pulsed at powwows across New England and North America.
It鈥檚 a sound of strength, heritage and tradition: the heartbeat of powwow celebrations.
As Native communities face continued challenges to their overall well-being, many find strength in cultural heritage and tradition. Today鈥檚 powwow gatherings are a chance to reconnect with family, culture and values.
Gumbs is a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Long Island, New York. Today, he鈥檚 traveled to 黑料吃瓜网 for Schemitzun, one of the largest powwows in the Northeast. It鈥檚 hosted by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
Tribal members dressed in regalia were lining up for the Grand Entry. Eagle feathers, ankle bells and colorful beads in geometric designs adorned the clothing. People wore armbands, moccasins and wampum jewelry made of quahog shells.
They paraded in, carrying flags of their Native Nations.
Many Hearts Lynn Malerba is Lifetime Chief of the Mohegan Tribe. She was appointed U.S. Treasurer under President Joe Biden, the first Native American to serve in that position. She says powwows pass on strength and tradition to the next generation.
鈥淔or me, it means continued survival,鈥� Malerba says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 most important, that we鈥檙e still here to celebrate our culture, all the Native nations in [the] United States.鈥�
A place to heal
Over the past 400 years, Native nations鈥� survival has been challenging. They鈥檝e endured epidemics, enslavement and warfare.
Today Indigenous peoples live on a small fraction of their ancestral homelands. Most live in urban areas.
黑料吃瓜网 is home to five state-recognized tribes. Two are federally-recognized.
- The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation鈥檚 reservation is in North Stonington. The tribe came into being after the Pequot War in the 1630s, when the Pequots were divided into Eastern Pequots and Western Mashantucket Pequots. Their reservation has been continuously occupied by the Eastern Pequot Tribe since the 1670s.
- The Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe has reservations in Trumbull and Colchester. After the final battle of the Pequot War in 1630s, known as 鈥淭he Swamp War,鈥� the Paugussetts lost most of their ancestral lands in southwestern 黑料吃瓜网. Their traditional homelands once spanned what are now three counties: Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties.
- The Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation鈥檚 reservation is in Ledyard. During the Pequot War of the 1630s, the tribe faced near annihilation. In the 1970s, there was a revival of their community and culture. They are now a thriving tribal nation.
- The Mohegan Tribe鈥檚 ancestral homelands and reservation are on the Thames River in Uncasville. During the 1600s, as European settlers moved into 黑料吃瓜网, they separated from the Pequot Tribe and settled at Fort Shantok. In 2022, Dartmouth College of the 18th century Mohegan minister and scholar, Samson Occom, to the tribe.
- The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation鈥檚 reservation is in Kent. Documentation from the 1600s describes the Schaghticokes as inhabiting lands in northwestern 黑料吃瓜网. Under the leadership of their first Sachem, they offered a safe haven for Indigenous peoples fleeing colonists. Several years ago, the remains of several Natives from the mid-17th century were unearthed and returned to Schaghticoke land.
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Councilor Daniel Menihan says his people were forced to be resilient. And still are.
鈥淲e have a lot of collective trauma as a people,鈥� Menihan says. 鈥淎nd often we鈥檙e able to look within our culture and find those mechanisms to heal.鈥�
One way to heal?
Tapping into the strength and cultural heritage of generations.
Keyokah Fawn Mars-Garrick is a citizen of the Narragansett Tribe and a special education teacher in 黑料吃瓜网.
Each year, the Narragansett Indian Tribe hosts its annual August Meeting in southern Rhode Island. It鈥檚 the oldest continuously held powwow in North America, first recorded in 1675.
This year marks the tribe鈥檚 350th celebration.
For Mars-Garrick, the gathering is a time to dress in Native regalia, clothing she鈥檚 designed. It鈥檚 a way to honor her community and express her unique personal taste.
As the celebration progresses, Mars-Garrick steps inside a circle to dance the traditional Eastern Blanket Dance.
鈥淪uitors stand outside of the circle in traditional times,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd women would dance around with their blanket and choose their partner by dropping their blanket.鈥�
These days Native women may find other ways to choose their partners, but Mars-Garrick says the Blanket Dance still moves her.
鈥淛ust the pride in leading my own life, being a strong and independent woman and knowing that that decision is always mine to make,鈥� she says.
A pride she is passing down to her son, Quincy, 6, as she helps design his own regalia.
Children like Quincy need to understand their family history, said his grandmother, Narragansett Tribal Councilor Heather Angel Mars-Martins.
鈥淭his location that we鈥檙e in right now is what we call Holy Land,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t has never, ever, ever left the ownership of the Narragansett people. Our children need to know their history, their culture, their heritage. They need to know that it is a history full of richness and love not just for each other but for the land.鈥�
Disparities
Nationwide, Native Americans continue to face pervasive disparities that stifle their economic mobility, .
Some tribes in the Northeast have had economic success largely due to casinos, but overall, there鈥檚 a wealth gap between Native and non-Native households.
Cedric Woods researches the economic well-being of American Indians in the Northeast. He鈥檚 director of the at UMass Boston.
鈥淚t鈥檚 better than in some parts of the United States, but probably not as robust as New Englanders may want to think,鈥� he says.
Those disparities extend to home ownership and finishing college, he says.
He calls on New England states to do a better job reaching out to Native communities.
鈥淚 think the states need to engage with the tribes and take an honest look and assessment at state policy that has hindered and still negatively impacts Native communities, and make a commitment to developing a partnership with Native communities,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 step one.鈥�
The University of 黑料吃瓜网 has a partnership with all five state-recognized tribes. They hope to attract more Indigenous students to the Avery Point campus and build a special culture of support for Native students. They鈥檇 also like to explore ways to 鈥淚ndigenize鈥� certain courses.
鈥淭his is a historical collaboration,鈥� says Brenda Geer, vice chairwoman of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation. 鈥淎very Point is part of our Aboriginal land.
鈥淭he state tribes 鈥� don鈥檛 get the resources that the federal tribes do as far as education. So it鈥檚 difficult. And the benefits of going to college is, the hope is, for [students] to come back into our communities so that they can help, and make the community stronger.鈥�
The effort is generating positive feedback.
鈥淚t's a wonderful idea. We need that type of thing here in New England,鈥� says Darlene Kascak, a Schaghticoke educator at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, 黑料吃瓜网. She serves on the Schaghticoke Tribe鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Traditional Council.
鈥淚t would mean access to education that has that two-eyed seeing point of view. An Indigenous perspective along with scholars,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause we need both.鈥�
Still here
For centuries, the Indigenous perspective was lost in the narrative of U.S. history. America came into being at a cost to Native peoples.
And that cost has not gone away.
Still, Native Americans are resilient.
Still, they are here.
鈥淚 want people to know that we鈥檙e not killed off in some old cowboy and Indian black-and-white movie,鈥� says Clan Mother Shoran Waupatukuay Piper of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still here.鈥�
鈥淲e, as Northeastern tribes, have survived and we are still here,鈥� says Chris Newell of Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township.
Native Americans are still here, with stories and lessons to share, according to Nakai Clearwater Northup, who鈥檚 of Narragansett descent and an enrolled member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
鈥淥ur people are here, have been here and will continue to be here,鈥� he said. 鈥淔orever.鈥�
Read more from Still Here: Native American Resilience in New England
Chapter 1: For Native Americans, an enduring spiritual connection to the land
Chapter 2: The hidden history of Indigenous slavery in New England and beyond
Chapter 3: 'Unsung hero:' How runner Tarzan Brown put the Narragansett tribe on the map in the 1930s
Chapter 4: Amid mist and music: A Native American reverence for water, celebrated on the banks of the CT River
Chapter 5: Power of powwow: A cultural connection echoes across generations of Native Americans
