On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress a “memorial from Samson Occum was read, and referred to the committee on Indian affairs.”
I have searched for a copy of this “memorial” written by Rev. Samson Occom (as he usually spelled his name) of East Hampton, Long Island and have not found it, although many of his writings are available online. If any researchers who happen to read this blog can find it, I would appreciate receiving a link. I have blogged about Rev. Occom before (see my post for April 11, 1774), but he should be better remembered in American history. He was a member of the Mohegan tribe and was born in Connecticut, but became an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church, was involved in the founding of Dartmouth College and was one of the first Native Americans to have published writings (and he had many). From my research it appears Occom advocated peace and advised Native American tribes to stay neutral in the war between the Americans and the British, but he was loyal to the Americans and his son-in-law Joseph Johnson delivered a message from General Washington to the Iroquois urging their neutrality later in 1776. I will post about Joseph Johnson’s mission for Washington to the Iroquois later this month.
After the War Occom was instrumental in founding a new tribe of Christian Indians in New York comprising Mohegans, Montauks, Pequots, Narragansetts, Tunxis, and Niantics who moved from Long Island, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Brothertown Indians later moved west to Wisconsin where they live today. Unfortunately the Brothertown tribe lost federal recognition and their petitions to restore their status as a federally recognized tribe have all failed to date.
Sources: https://americanfounding.org/entries/second-continental-congress-february-2-1776/; https://www.loc.gov/resource/llscdam.lljc004/?sp=117&st=pdf&r=-0.343%2C-0.084%2C1.686%2C1.686%2C0&pdfPage=109; https://www.library.dartmouth.edu/digital/digital-collections/occom-circle/project; https://brothertownindians.org/
On This Day In The Revolution 
One response to “On this day 250 years ago in the Revolution — February 2, 1776”
That’s so sad that the Brothertown tribe lost federal recognition. From what I’ve learned from professional genetic genealogists (e.g. Roberta Estes), membership in a recognized tribe is more political than genetic. If they don’t have enough people who can prove they were legally recognized as a tribal member in the past, that may be a road block to future recognition.
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