Floating through 400 years of Mohegan history – theday.com

Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum, left, sings a traditional Mohegan song while he and Phil Yellow Hawk Russell lead a boat tour Saturday, July 16, 2022, about the history of the Mohegan Tribe along the Thames River. The event was hosted by the Thames River Heritage Park. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

Al Grant of Uncasville, daughter Kady of Queens, N.Y., and his wife, Judi, blocked from view, and others listen to Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum on Saturday, July 16, 2022, during a boat tour about the history of the Mohegan Tribe along the Thames River. The event was hosted by the Thames River Heritage Park. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum, left, speaks while he and Phil Yellow Hawk Russell, second from right, lead a boat tour Saturday, July 16, 2022, about the history of the Mohegan Tribe along the Thames River. The event was hosted by the Thames River Heritage Park. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

Vinnie Cusano, right, runs the water taxi along the Thames River Saturday, July 16, 2022, during a boat tour led by Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum and Phil Yellow Hawk Russell about the history of the Mohegan Tribe. The event was hosted by the Thames River Heritage Park. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

New London Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum, former chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council and Mohegan Sun casino, opened the Saturday afternoon boat tour on the Thames River by piping the Gilligans Island theme song into the sound system hed carried with him onto the water taxi.

But this was not a three-hour tour like the one in the famous 1960s sitcom, nor did it end in a shipwreck. Instead, the excursion on the Thames River Heritage Park boat took just over an hour from New Londons City Pier toward the casino and back again on a mild summer day. And while Bozsum did his best to keep things light, there was seriousness that could not be avoided as he told roughly a dozen passengers about the Mohegan Tribes centurieslong fight for its life along the Thames.

Bozsum and fellow Mohegan Tribal Council of Elders member Phil Yellow Hawk Russell introduced themselves as cousins, both descendants of Uncas a revered chief, statesman and warrior who led the tribe at the time of its inception more than 400 years ago.

Were 13 generations of that man, Bozsum said.

Uncas tribe became the Mohegans, or Wolf People, after a split from the Pequot Tribe due to what the Mohegans describe as different ideas about how to deal with European conflicts. Ultimately, the Mohegans helped the British defeat the Pequots.

The Pequots went to the east side of the river and the Mohegans went to the west. Thats how their respective casinos Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are situated now.

Thats where our family split, Bozsum said. And we remain that way forever.

The boat turned around in the vicinity of the Yale boathouse and Horton Point, where Uncas used to sit on rocks now known as Uncas Chair. The spot, overlooking the rivers narrow turn toward the present-day Mohegan Sun casino, was where the chief is said to have watched closely for enemies attempting to broach the Mohegans side of the river.

In describing Uncas as the tribes first sachem, or chief for life, Bozsum also invoked the name of its newest sachem: Many Hearts Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba in June was named the 45th treasurer of the United States, the first Native American to hold the position. She also heads the Treasury Departments newly established Office of Tribal and Native Affairs.

Bozsum marveled that a Mohegan signature is going to be on all the money in the United States.

The other night she gave a speech and said I will carry you all in my hearts, he recalled. And I said, were going to carry you in our wallets.

Bozsum spent nine years as the Tribal Council chairman, a tenure that included an audience with the queen of England and a starring role in an episode of the reality television show "Undercover Boss.

The boat tour was part of a full summer calendar of events through the Thames River Heritage Park, which its coalition of organizers describe as a park without boundaries. The group uses water taxis repurposed surplus Navy utility boats to link almost 20 historical and culturally significant sites in New London and Groton.

In its sixth full summer season, the park has grown from offering hop-on, hop-off boat rides to also offering themed tours. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the tours in their first year regularly sold out on topics related to the regions important military history from pre-Revolutionary War days through the advent of nuclear submarines. Offerings were soon expanded to include forays into womens history, whaling history, native history and the importance of sailors of color to the regions maritime heritage.

The park last year forged a partnership with the Mohegan Tribe, resulting in numerous popular tours in which tribal members in native dress sang, displayed native objects and told stories highlighting their heritage.

Russell, who has served as an environmental services supervisor for the tribe, talked about the shellfish and shad that sustained his ancestors and his own generations efforts to restore such a source of livelihood.

We stocked the whole river again with oysters and clams, Russell said. They came back pretty well.

Bozsums contributions included singing, flute playing and the recitation of a blessing. The undulating, syncopated melody of his song was part of a mens thunder dance to get everyone going for war, he said. The blessing thanked the Creator for the beautiful day and good things that have come.

Earlier, as the boat started off amid the industrial sprawl of the Groton-New London riverfront, he asked: Can you imagine how beautiful it was with none of this here years ago?

Now, the member of the Tribal Council of Elders remains committed to preserving history through the spoken word. He started the tribes language restoration program in 1998; now his daughter runs it.

According to the tribes website, Fidelia Fielding was the last fluent speaker of the Mohegan language when she died in 1908. Mohegans stopped teaching the language to their children for fear of retribution by teachers in public schools, the tribe said.

The modern Mohegan language has evolved through fragments found in written documents owned by various tribal members, including Fielding and anthropologist Frank Speck from over a century ago, the tribe said. Members also work with neighboring tribes that have similar dialects.

We have a beautiful language, Bozsum said after reciting the blessing in its original tongue. I love speaking it all the time.

Other boat tours include White Sails, Black Hands: The African American Experience on Connecticut Waters; Submarines, Battlefields, and Betrayers: Military Stories on the Thames; and Well-Heeled and Wannabes: The Gilded Age on the Thames. They run on weekends through mid-September.

More information is available at thamesriverheritagepark.org.

e.regan@theday.com

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Floating through 400 years of Mohegan history - theday.com