The month of November is laden with important dates. All Saints Day, the end of Daylight Savings Time, Veterans’/Remembrance Day and this year our Election Day shares the same date as Guy Fawkes Day (a big holiday in UK celebrating when ‘the guy’ attempted to blow up Parliament in 1605).
And, of course, there is Thanksgiving, an event remembered for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways. In 1990, the month of November was designated by the U.S. government as National Native American Heritage Month; over 20 years after the revival of the American Indian Movement.
I often tell my history students that much of what we were taught tended to be Folk History, which is not the same as actual history. Folk History is no more than authorized legend that is rarely based on evidence. Actual history, with all its unpleasantness, is based on truth; and that helps build our understanding. That understanding needs to include the “why” behind people’s actions and not just the “what”.
An interesting development in this area is the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing (or Etuaptmumk). First documented in the Arcadi First Nation, Two-Eyed Seeing recognizes that Indigenous peoples tend to emphasize relational aspects such as experiences, spirituality, and culture; while Westerners focus on attention to concrete evidence and interpretation. As discussed in the British Columbia Medical Journal of Oct., 2021, “Two-Eyed Seeing requires groups to weave between each respective way of knowing…It brings together two ways of knowing to allow a diverse group of people to use all understandings to improve the world.”
Utilizing the concept of learning with each other, here is some information about the First Peoples of Connecticut. The state of Connecticut recognizes that native peoples have lived here for perhaps 12,000 years, certainly longer than the colonists who arrived in the 1630s. Many of us were taught that Connecticut is an “Indian name.” In actuality, that land area that became our state was originally called Quinnehtukqut by its native inhabitants. Quinnehtukqut means, “place of the long river.” Native inhabitants of this region mostly spoke an Algonquian language. The Algonquians were a large native group who lived throughout today’s eastern Canada, New England, the mid-Atlantic states, and the Great Lakes region. This meant the language would have different dialects. For example, the word for HELLO in Anishinabe is kwey, while in Mohegan it is aquy. In Quinnehtukqut these dialects included Mohegan-Pequot, Niantic, and Quiripi. Quiripi was common among the Quinnipiac and other southwest Quinnehtukqut peoples, but is now considered extinct.
At one time there were at least fourteen recognized native tribes in Quinnehtukqut. Today, there are officially only five. The state government recognizes the Eastern Pequot, Golden Hill Paugussett, and Schaghticoke. The Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan are recognized by both the state and federal governments. Such recognition insures tribal sovereignty, which allows for self-governance on tribal lands.
Current demographic data indicates that Indigenous peoples make up just over 1.1% of our state’s population. Nationally the figure is just over 2.0%, while in West Haven it is less than .50%.
The Myatt Center will host a flag-raising on Nov. 1, and a program on Nov. 25 to mark Native American Heritage Month.
