President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 and other Dartmouth officials, faculty, and students traveled to Uncasville, Conn., on April 26 and 27 to repatriate papers of the Rev. Samson Occom, a pivotal figure in the College’s founding. The ceremony outside the Mohegan Church included a gift to Dartmouth of a wampum belt specially made for the occasion.
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The Unity of Nations drum group performs outside the Mohegan Church before an April 27 ceremony where a Dartmouth delegation repatriated papers from the Rev. Samson Occom to his Mohegan homeland. Occom, who was born in 1723, helped the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock raise the money that was used to establish Dartmouth, though Occom felt betrayed that Wheelock strayed from the original vision of educating Native youth. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Mohegan Council of Elders Chairman Two Bears Charlie Strickland, left, signs documents relating to the repatriation of Samson Occom’s papers along with Dartmouth President Philip J. Hanlon ’77, Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman James Gessner Jr., and Mohegan Chief Many Hearts Lynn Malerba on April 26. (Photo by Peter Hoey/Mohegan Tribe )
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A portrait of the Rev. Samson Occom that hangs in the entrance to the Mohegan Church. The painting was done by Douglas Henry in 1997. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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College Archivist Peter Carini packs up some of the Samson Occom papers at the Dartmouth Library to take them to Connecticut. (Photo by Julia Levine ’23)
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A box containing some of the papers of the Rev. Samson Occom that were repatriated by Dartmouth to Occom’s Mohegan homeland. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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A Hebrew primer includes handwritten text from Occom in several languages, including Mohegan. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Dartmouth President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 presents Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman James Gessner Jr., center, and other tribal leaders with a box containing some of Samson Occom’s papers at a ceremony in Uncasville, Conn., Occom’s Mohegan homeland, on April 27. Standing at left is Mohegan Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Sarah Harris ’00, a member of Dartmouth’s Native American Visiting Committee. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Mohegan Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Sarah Harris ’00, who is also a member of Dartmouth’s Native American Visiting Committee, helped bring the idea of repatriation of Occom’s papers forward. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Medicine Woman and Tribal Historian Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, left, and Mohegan Chief Many Hearts Lynn Malerba present President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 with a blanket, a traditional ceremonial honor. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Members of the Mohegan Tribe and a delegation from Dartmouth gather outside the Mohegan Church in Uncasville, Conn., on April 27 after a repatriation ceremony for the papers of Samson Occom. (Photo by Erin Supinka)
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President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 and his wife, Gail Gentes, examine some of the Occom papers now on display at the Mohegan Tribe’s Tantaquidgeon Museum. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Mohegan Council of Elders Chairman Two Bears Charlie Strickland, left, presents a wampum belt created for the occasion to President Hanlon at the ceremony. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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The wampum belt that the Mohegan Tribe presented to President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 on April 27 as Dartmouth repatriated Samson Occom’s papers to his Mohegan homeland. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Members of the executive board of Native Americans at Dartmouth attended the ceremony. From left, Hayden Campos ’22; Mikaila Ng ’22; Erin Bunner ’22; Caileadair Holmes ’22; Phyllis D. Gardner ’20; and Sydnie Ziegler ’22. More than 1,200 Native American students have graduated from Dartmouth since 1970, when then-President John Kemeny rededicated Dartmouth to advancing Native American education. (Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
