Happy Samson Occom Day!

July 14th is celebrated as Samson Occom’s feast day in the Episcopal Church.  Today, July 14, 2017, marks the 225th year since Occom’s death in 1792. 

I would like to take this occasion to announce the official release of a project that has been in the works this past year. “Samson Occom: The Journey of a Lifetime” is an 11″ resin doll set commemorating the 250th anniversary of Occom’s fundraising trip to England. While this is a tribute set, it was primarily commissioned to raise awareness for Occom and for the Brothertown Indian Tribe which he helped to found.   Miniature items, drawings, portraits and texts incorporated into a display box, help to tell the story of Occom’s life and the founding of Brothertown.

Most of these sets, it is hoped, will be donated to historical societies, museums or other interested parties for display.  Others are promised to Brothertown friends and family.  A very limited number are being offered for sale to the public to help defray some of the costs.  

If you are interested in owning one of these, please visit the following link:  Brothertowncitizen.wordpress.com. 

If you are a historical society, museum, or nonprofit group and are interested in a display set, please go to the Nonprofits/museum page.

Finally, if you’d simply like to learn more about the doll and/or the life of Samson Occom, please visit the Samson Occom doll information page.

Happy Samson Occom day!

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The Brothertown Quarterly Report

If you haven’t already seen it on the Brothertown Facebook page, the summer quarterly report is out.  Seth Elsen did a wonderful job!  It is eye-catching and in an easy-to-read format.  There is one article in particular that I would like to share.  It is about our other arm of government: the Peacemakers.   Before I do that though, I need to address something that is missing from this report.

Last November, an item appeared in the quarterly report which incorrectly singled out head Peacemaker Edd Welsh and Peacemaker Dennis Gramentz as not having been sworn in.  Both men had, of course, been sworn in long ago.  This fact has been verified by our Chairman.   Council was emailed with the request that a retraction be printed in the next quarterly report.  However, for some reason Council put this to a vote and decided not to print a retraction.   Why?  If an organization publicly prints an inaccuracy about someone(s), should it not also publicly print a retraction to correct that error?  Both for the sake of the individuals who were wronged and also for recipients who may not know that this was only an error.

While we are on the subject of swearing in Peacemakers, our newest elected Peacemaker, Mr. Greg Wilson, will be sworn in at the Brothertown picnic this Saturday at the BINCC.  Also, Ms. Renee Gralewicz was sworn in as a Peacemaker earlier this year after Peacemaker Caroline Andler resigned.  Here is a copy of that article:

New Peacemaker Named

Congratulations and thank you to Renee Gralewicz for stepping into the Peacemaker position recently vacated by Mrs. Caroline Andler.  Ms. Gralewicz is a veteran of the U.S. Army and currently an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley.  Among other Tribal volunteer projects and positions, she did an exemplary job serving as Tribal Secretary from 2009 until 2014.  While her dedication and abilities will certainly serve the Tribe well in her new capacity, Peacemaker Andler leaves some big shoes to fill.

Mrs. Andler has served as a Peacemaker since 2014. Prior to this, she held numerous positions in the Tribe including Secretary, Genealogist, and Chairperson of the Recognition Committee. Yet none of these titles even begins to reflect the dedication and service she has extended to and for the Tribe and its citizens since the 1990’s. Her dedication to the Brothertown people has often been felt on private and personal levels while at other times, such as with her instrumental involvement in the return of the “Brothertown Collection”, her impact has been felt more broadly.

The Tribe honored her in 2009 with the Joseph Johnson Award for “OUTSTANDING SERVICE to the Tribe.” This was part of a resolution passed by Council which also cited several more of Mrs. Andler’s Brothertown achievements and gave voice to the heartfelt “THANK YOU!” and recognition that her steadfast efforts deserve. She has truly been, and continues to be, someone Joseph Johnson and all of our Brothertown Ancestors can be very proud of.