Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank Professor Ned Blackhawk of Yale University for the inspiration for this capstone project. As a student in his American Indian History class during the fall of 2020, I became intrigued about American Indian History in my own state of Connecticut and how little I knew about the topic.  This project was therefore three years in the making!

I am thankful to my two mentors, Darlene Kascak of the Schaghticoke Tribe and Beth Regan of the Mohegan Tribe. Darlene and Beth helped shape the project from just an idea in my head to what it is today. They were the driving force behind my research and direction for this initiative and I am forever thankful for their guidance and friendship along the way. 

I am also thankful to Shoran Piper of the Golden Hill Paugussetts, Brenda Geer of the Eastern Pequots, and Josh Carter of the Mashantucket Pequots for providing me with valuable communication via email to learn more about their tribes firsthand. I look forward to our continue partnership in this project. 

I would also like to thank Stephen Armstrong (Social Studies Consultant for the State of Connecticut), Nicole Jones (Humanities and Arts Project Manager for Connecticut), and all the members on the state’s Native American Studies Curricula Design Steering Committee. 

Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and support during this process and my fellow local historian Michael Margonis for his research and guidance.  Michael accompanied me on many of the site visits over the last three years as we both uncovered the true story of the American Indian experience in Connecticut.