|
|
|
|
|
| Education: |
|
B.A. University of Connecticut
5th Year, Eastern Connecticut State University
|
| Occupation: |
Mohegan
Tribe Councilor and Ambassador
Chair, Council of Elders (1990)
Teacher for 27 years |
Jayne Fawcett has lived in Mohegan all of her life
and always was involved in Mohegan affairs. She
grew up on the homesite of the Reverend Samson Occum,
first American Indian minister in the United States.
Her childhood was largely spent with her mother’s
family who operate the oldest Indian run museum
in the United States, the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum.
Here she was taught to value Mohegan culture by
her aunt, Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon, and
her uncle, the late Chief Tantaquidgeon. In those
days, Mohegan was a very small rural community.
After receiving her B.A. from the University of
Connecticut, Jayne worked for a short period of
time as a social worker for the Division of Child
Welfare of the State of Connecticut, and then serviced
the towns of Montville and Ledyard as a teacher
for 27 years. In 1978, she became a founding member
of the new, constitutionally elected Mohegan Tribal
Council, and in 1990 was elected Chairman of the
Constitutional Review Board, otherwise know as the
Council of Elders, the Tribe’s judicial branch.
Shortly thereafter, Jayne returned to the Tribal
Council, where she served as its Secretary. In December
of 1995, Jayne’s position as Vice-Chair of
the Mohegan Tribal Council became full time as she
took on the additional role of the Tribe’s
public relations representative.
Jayne has served as Chair of the Montville Indian
Parent Committee, and project coordinator of an
Indian education grant with the Montville school
system. With education as a major focus, she has
been an instructor and lecturer on Mohegan culture
at Project Learn and various Connecticut schools
and universities, in addition to serving on curriculum
committees for the local multicultural school, and
the Ledyard and Norwich public schools. She also
served on Eastern Connecticut State University’s
Multicultural Advisory Committee and was an advisor
for the projected Native American Studies Program
at the University of Connecticut. She is a former
advisory board member and panelist at the Institute
for Native American Studies. Her publications include
an article written with her aunt, Gladys Tantaquidgeon
on Mohegan basketry in a A Key to the Language
of Woodsplint Baskets, and native American
poetry.
In addition to Jayne’s current duties as Ambassador,
she sits on the board of directors and is Treasurer
of the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.
Jayne enjoys music and is the volunteer organist
at the Mohegan Church. A song written by her and
another Tribal member, Bruce Bozsum, was sung at
the Ground Blessing of Mohegan Sun Casino.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
