"Having grown up on the historic lands of the Northeastern Woodlands tribes, I grew up understanding the importance of Native identity and presence in the region. Since coming to Brown, I have become the Research Assistant Coordinator for the Stolen Relations project, which aims to document the hemispheric nature of Indigenous unfreedom in the Americas and to provide agency to these individuals who are so often dehumanized within the existing historical record. 

 

Since last Fall, I have been working on a thesis research project around the Mashantucket Pequot people of Southeastern Connecticut between the 1960's and 1990's. At the start of this period, only two women remained in residence on the Mashantucket reservation. By the end, a massive movement of people back to the Pequot land and identity had revitalized the nation and enabled them to be recognized by the country as a continuously-present, sovereign nation.

 

In an effort to tell an authentic history that I think has been neglected by existing historiography, I am aiming to tell this history through sources produced by Pequot people, including oral histories. Having traveled to Mashantucket, I have spoken with those who lived through the late twentieth century or who have family histories relating to the period. While there, I have also interpreted the history told through the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and attended cultural events including Schemitzun (with the aid of research funds), to further understand the long and continuous history of the Pequot people.

 

For students considering starting a long-term history project, my advice would be to always aim to tell the stories that are not currently being told. If traditionally published sources don't support the research you want to do, there are always a wider range of sources that can be used to tell the stories that matter to you."