Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe on August 15, 2010, and is the first female Chief in the Tribe’s modern history. The position is a lifetime appointment made by the Tribe’s Council of Elders. Lynn follows in the footsteps of many strong female role models in the Mohegan Tribe, including her mother, Loretta Roberge, who was a member of the Tribal Council that achieved Federal Recognition for the Tribe and held the position of Tribal Nonner (an elder female of respect) as well as her great-grandfather Chief Matagha (Burrill Fielding).  

Prior to becoming Chief, she served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Council and served in Tribal Government as Executive Director of Health and Human Services. Preceding her work for the Mohegan Tribe, Lynn had a lengthy career as a registered nurse ultimately as the Director of Cardiology and Pulmonary Services at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. She earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice at Yale University, named a Jonas Scholar. She was awarded an honorary Doctoral Degree in Humane Letters from the University of Connecticut, an honorary Doctoral Degree in law from the University of North Carolina Pembroke, an honorary Doctoral degree in Science from Eastern Connecticut State University, and an honorary Doctoral Degree in Humane Letters from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Connecticut, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of St. Joseph, and her diploma in nursing from Hartford Hospital School of Nursing. 

She has returned full-time to Connecticut after serving as the Treasurer of the United States. When she was appointed by President Biden in June of 2022, she was the first Native American to serve in that role. She proudly represented Mohegans and Indigenous communities nationwide through 2024. She formerly served as the United South and Eastern Tribes Board of Directors Secretary, Chairwoman of the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee of the Federal Indian Health Service (IHS), a member of the Justice Department’s Tribal Nations Leadership Council, a member of the Tribal Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Health, a member of the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee and a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Center for Indian Country Development Leadership Council.  

Locally she served as a Trustee for Chelsea Groton Bank, Board Chair for the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, and on the Provost’s Advisory Committee Member for the Harvard University Native American Program. 

She published “The Effects of Sequestration on Indian Health Funding” in the Hastings Center Report, Nov-Dec. 2013 and authored two chapters in “American Indian Health and Nursing” Ed. Margaret P. Moss, Springer Publishing Company.