Category: Munsee

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The keynote speaker at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ 125th commencement exercises will be Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

This year’s commencement will be held Saturday, May 11, at 11 a.m., in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts sits on the ancestral land of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

In addition, MCLA will confer honorary doctorates to four individuals: President Holsey, state Sen. Paul Mark, Mass Humanities Executive Director Brian Boyles and former president and CEO of Child Care of the Berkshires Anne Nemetz-Carlson. 

“I am excited to have Shannon Holsey as the keynote speaker for this year’s Commencement,” said MCLA President James F. Birge. “Her dedication to community service, leadership, and advocacy for Native American rights aligns with our commitment to producing well-rounded, socially conscious graduates. I look forward to the inspiration and wisdom she will undoubtedly share with our graduating class.”

Shannon Holsey

Holsey will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters recognizing her leadership and commitment to the well-being of her community that has earned her three terms as president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band, following her eight years as a member of the Tribal Council. Raised on the Stockbridge-Munsee reservation in Bowler, Wis., Holsey has dedicated herself to ensuring the tribe serves as responsible stewards of economic, environmental, cultural, and intellectual resources.

She also serves as the president of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, which represents 12 member tribes across 45 counties with a land base of about 1 million acres. She is an appointee to the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Special Committee on State-Tribal Relations and…

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PublishedFebruary 16, 2024 11:34 AM EST|UpdatedFebruary 16, 2024 11:34 AM EST

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Actress Lily Gladstone wants people to know she’s very offended by Kansas City Chiefs fans doing the Tomahawk chop.

The Tomahawk chop is done by a handful of major college and pro teams with the Chiefs, Florida State Seminoles and Atlanta Braves being the most notable.

The chop is done to intimidate opponents, and let’s be honest, a stadium chanting it prior to kickoff is awesome and downright chilling under the lights.

Just don’t tell any of this to Lily Gladstone.

The “Killers of the Flower Moon” star told Variety the following:

“Honestly, you could hold both teams accountable. The 49ers are based on the California Gold Rush, which was an incredibly brutal time for California Indians. And then the Chiefs. There are many ways that you could interpret the name ‘chief.’ It’s not the name that bothers me. It’s hearing that damn Tomahawk chop. Every time, it’s a stark reminder of what Hollywood has done to us, because the Tomahawk chop directly ties to the sounds of old Westerns where we were not playing ourselves, or if we were, we were merely backdrop actors. It’s this ‘claiming’ of that sound and saying it’s in ‘honor’ and the commodification of who we are as people. It’s great to love the game and your players, but it still hurts.”

Lily Gladstone offended by Chiefs fans doing Tomahawk chop. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Lily Gladstone isn’t impressed with Tomahawk chop.

While people are welcome to have any opinion they want on literally any subject – this is America, after all – Gladstone is way off base with her assessment.

The Tomahawk chop has nothing to do with “ties to the sounds of old Westerns where we were…

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The Tribal Council of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is sounding an alarm about unaffiliated groups — including one based in the Berkshires — that may be seeking to exploit the Wisconsin-based tribe for financial gain.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community has strong ties to this area, as it is part of our ancestral homelands. Reconnecting with our homelands is a means of recovery from forced relocation and assimilation, and we are happy with the local interest in our history, culture and traditions.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community is a federally-recognized Indian tribe made up of both Munsee and Mohican Indians with an ancestral territory that includes portions of what is now New York State, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Jersey. We are a sovereign nation geographically situated on a reservation in Shawano County, Wis. Our tribe is governed by a duly elected Tribal Council, pursuant to our constitution. As a sovereign tribal nation, we enjoy a unique trust relationship with the federal government and engage in government-to-government relations at the federal, state and local levels.

Our tribe was one of the first tribes to meet the European explorers when Henry Hudson sailed up the Mahicannituck (later called the Hudson River) into the lands of the Mohicans in September 1609. A more detailed summary of our history can be found on our website at https://mohican.com/brief-history. Because of that early encounter and pressure to assimilate, our language, culture and tradition were significantly eroded. As a tribe, we are committed to recovering both language and culture and protecting what our ancestors left us. That commitment includes remaining true to the traditions we have and exposing misuse, misrepresentation or monetization of our culture and traditions.

Toward that end, we…

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Corry’s coaches react to Cooper Hodak getting a two-point takedown. Standing is Brad Allen. From left are Mark Munsee, Austin Gillihan, Travis Proper and Lucas Munsee.

SHARON — In high school wrestling, you can’t take anything for granted.

Corry had high expectations at Saturday’s District 10 Class 2A Team Duals on Feb. 3. But after disposing of Grove City 45-21 in the quarterfinals, the Beavers fell to Fort LeBoeuf 33-24 in the semifinals.

Ironically, LeBoeuf’s head coach is former Corry state finalist Shane McChesney, and one of his assistants is Corry state champion (1984) Ed Burkhart.

In the semis, Corry built an 18-12 lead through seven matches. However, the Bison then won five straight, including two crucial swing matches to virtually wrap up the match with a forfeit in the next-to-last bout.

To kick things off, FL’s heavyweight John Duran pinned Owen Nickerson before Wyatt Swan was a 9-4 winner at 107 pounds.

Logan Hodak turns his Grove City foe before a first-period fall.

Beaver freshman Carson Braswell pulled off a stunner, decking Brady Bowers 33 seconds into overtime after going 4-4 in regulation.

Logan Hodak (121) then won 3-1, giving Corry a 12-6 lead. Bison Jake Bennett then pitched a 4-0 shutout over Steven Willis, getting three third-period points via a nearfall. Isaiah Bayle then lost 10-6 to Brody Myers, and the contest was tied at 12.

At 139 pounds, Will Allen was up 6-1 when the LeBoeuf wrestler suffered a shoulder injury and defaulted, giving Corry six points and an 18-12 lead.

Jackson Bowers then used a late takedown to subdue Beaver Cody Proper 4-3. At 152, Bison ace Joe Przybycien’s first-period pin gave LeBeouf a 21-18 lead.

At the pivotal 160 bout, FL’s Aidan…

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STOCKBRIDGE — The Tribal Council of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is sounding an alarm about unaffiliated groups — including one based in the Berkshires — that may be seeking to exploit the Wisconsin-based tribe for financial gain.

Sherry White, liaison to the Tribal Council, cited two groups — the Alliance for a Viable Future, sponsor of annual Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend events in Great Barrington, and another that has organized an upcoming powwow in Ohio.

“Those have nothing to do with the Mohican tribe, and the tribe has not authorized this,” White said in a phone interview Monday from her home in Keshena, Wis. “Groups are using the Mohican name, probably either to help raise money or to draw attention to their events. The Tribal Council is getting very concerned that people think they’re donating to the tribe or working with it, and they’re not.”

The local group has agreed to clarify that its events, attended by tribal members on their own, do not represent the tribal government.

The federally recognized tribe of about 1,500 Munsee and Mohican Indians, based on a reservation in Shawano County, Wis., includes descendants of the original settlers of Stockbridge and other ancestral homelands in Berkshire County and adjacent New York state, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans is reclaiming 351 acres of sacred homeland in Stockbridge

In a letter to The Eagle, White pointed to a three-day event in September in Loudonville, Ohio, dubbed the 38th annual “Great Mohican Pow-Wow” on a “Mohican Reservation.” The website, mohicanpowwow.com, charged admission for individuals and groups and also listed sponsors and offers applications for vendors. It includes a disclaimer that it…

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Then it all came to be. On DePerry’s visit she asked Karius about making time for a workout. She didn’t want to skip a day.

“She was a bundle of energy on that visit,” Karius said. “I’ve never had an official visit with a kid where they asked to make time for a workout. She loves the weight room. I coached for three years at a Power 5 school and no player has ever said, ‘Hey Coach, I know we have an itinerary but would it be OK if I have an hour-and-a-half where I can go lift? I don’t want to fall behind in my workouts.’”

Since then, Karius has seen the toughness, energy, and willingness to work hard. The coach has also seen DePerry’s unmistakable enthusiasm for representing her culture to young people attending games.

“She’s really passionate about the young kids because she was one of them,” Karius said. “She gives them a role model to look up to and to show them that it’s possible that you can do that. You can get a college degree and play Division I basketball.”

During DePerry’s decision-making process she discovered that USD didn’t have anyone in the transfer portal going into 2023-24. For some that might have been a deterrent because it meant a lot of the roster was going to stay the same, but DePerry didn’t see it that way.

Instead, she called it “a green flag.”

“During my three-day visit I got to spend a lot of time with the girls and I felt very comfortable,” DePerry said. “When I saw that no one was transferring out I thought it showed the culture of the team. Everyone wanted to stay together the next year.”

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Following a charity night put on by the Corry boys basketball program on Jan. 4, a Trooper Jacques “Jay” Rougeau Memorial Scholarship Fund has reached a total of roughly $33,000, says Corry Community Foundation Administrative Assistant Shelby Scouten. The current total includes a $10,000 dollar-for-dollar match by CCF. 

The basketball charity night itself raised about $3,150. 

Nicole Munsee-Lambert of the boys basketball booster said that included a 50/50 raffle, a lottery basket, half of the evening’s concession sales and donations collected — some in person during the event and others online. 

“We are very happy with that,” Munsee-Lambert said. “The Corry community’s support for their own is amazing.”

She continued, expressing a thankfulness for the presence of Angela, Rougeau’s mother, and Chloe, his wife. 

“We realize they are grieving and empathize with how difficult it must be for them,” Munsee-Lambert noted. 

Before the night’s basketball game, Angela and Chloe were presented with one each of Rougeau’s former jerseys (home and away), as he played on the Corry basketball team during high school.

Tyler Bailey, head basketball coach, also felt the event was a success.  

“Charity night went very well,” he said. “It was nice to see the community come together to support such a great cause. Jay’s positive impact on the community and the school will always be cherished and remembered.” 

The scholarship fund was started by the Corry Area High School Class of 2012 (Rougeau’s classmates) and has since seen support not only from the basketball program but also Corry’s volleyball team during its charity night on Sept. 27, 2023, and Corry Area Intermediate School with a Christmastime coin drive. 

The minimum amount to start a scholarship is $25,000, so that initial goal has been surpassed. 

To learn more about the scholarship fund or to donate, visit corrycommunityfoundation.org.

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