New London — The reasons for Mohegan tribal members to celebrate its history this weekend were twofold.

The Mohegan Tribe’s Tantaquidgeon Museum has turned 90 years old and part of Saturday’s anniversary celebration was the return of an important piece of tribal history to its rightful home.

Officials from Cornell University joined with Mohegan Tribal members Saturday morning for the repatriation of the Fidelia “Flying Bird” Fielding diaries, written accounts of daily life by the last person to speak the Mohegan language fluently. Fielding died in 1908 and the rare manuscripts had been in Cornell's possession since 2004, when it acquired one of the largest Native American collections in the world.

The diary was on display Saturday at the Mohegan Cultural Preservation Center, a building completed in 2019 that stands opposite the museum. The diary is expected to become an asset to the Mohegan Language Restoration Project, an initiative to restore the Mohegan language and teach it to tribal members.

“Cornell was very gracious. Native people lose some of their cultural matrimony and their artifacts to so many museums. We’ve lost a lot of our culture, our artifacts. To have this come home to us and to be able to celebrate this is an honor,” Mohegan Council of Elders Vice Chairwoman Beth Regan said.

The repatriation of the diaries kicked off a day to celebrate Mohegan history and traditions. Visitors browsed craft tables, watched dance and drumming demonstrations and visited the modest little museum building, which lays claim to being the oldest tribal-owned and operated museum in the country.

All of Church Street was closed off for Saturday’s festivities to allow visitors to roam from the museum to the top of Mohegan Hill. The road ends at the Mohegan Congregational Church, a longtime important ceremonial center for members of the Mohegan Tribe.

The church was founded in 1831, shortly after the signing of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which hastened tribal members' conversion to Christianity. The act was a systematic way to move tribes out west to be replaced with white settlements, Mohegan Council of Elders Chairman Charlie Strickland said. The church helped prevent the removal of the tribe from its traditional lands.

“The cross (on the church) was the proof we became humanized and Christianized. The elders put an eagle feather in front of it so that they could always remember this was ours ... and we are going to believe and have our spirituality the way we want it,” Strickland said.

Tribal members said the church sits on the only plot of land that has been continuously owned by the tribe.

Strickland helped lead a tour during the celebration with dignitaries that included Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and local legislators that included state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and state Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville.

Behind the church, artist Danny Kerwin of Groton, who is a tribal member, sold his handmade wares that included pencil sketches inside clam shells. Kerwin, a former commercial artist who worked at Electric Boat, attended the church with his mother as a kid. While the church was always an important gathering spot, Kerwin said it was the yearly powwows or Wigwam Festival at Fort Shantok State Park that were the most fun.

“That was the big family picnic," he said. "That was a good time."

Among visitors was Daniel Shears, a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe in Vermont, who was joined by his daughter Hannah and interested in what the museum had to offer. Shears is the material cultural advisor for the Nulhegan Cultural and Historic Preservation Department, and he was impressed by the scope of the collection.

Strickland said the museum is important to the tribe and also the community.

“There’s unity here. I want people to know we’re not only casino Indians," he said. "We’re more about life and energy and a good spirit and a good way to the community."

g.smith@theday.com