"The Accomac Business Model" (2009) by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel

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Description

Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel (b.1960)* grew up on Occum Lane on Mohegan Hill, on the homestead of her legendary ancestor, Samson Occum/Occom. She learned Mohegan traditions from her great-aunt, Gladys Tantaquidgeon.

Zobel holds multiple academic degrees, including a B.S.F.S. in History and Diplomacy from Georgetown University, and M.A. in History from the University of Connecticut—the school from which both her mother and great-aunt received degrees. Initially, Zobel was preparing to attend Harvard University as a history major. However, in meeting with the department chair, she was told that a Native American focus in History was not allowed, as it was considered "ethnohistory," and that she could major in anthropology. She chose UConn instead. In 2012, she also earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Fairfield University; and in 2013, she began a Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Teaching of Native American Studies at Lesley University.

In the Mohegan tribal nation, Zobel is both Medicine Woman and Tribal Historian. She also serves as executive director of the tribe’s cultural and community programs department. In her capacity as tribal storyteller, Zobel has traveled all throughout New England. Her goal has always been to provide a greater understanding of Native American history. In a recent interview, Zobel stated, “We are the keepers of the original ancient stories of New England.”

Writing

Zobel has long written history for her tribe, but she was motivated to get serious about her writing in 1991, when she was panned by critics at a Connecticut Humanities Council Conference. In 1992, her manuscript, The Lasting of the Mohegans, won the first annual Non-Fiction Award from the prestigious Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas.

Zobel’s non-fiction publications provide in-depth information and an unparalleled understanding of Mohegan culture, granting readers a glimpse at traditional practices. In Medicine Trail: The Life and Lessons of Gladys Tantaquidgeon, for instance, she writes that “certain feathers, such as those of the eagle, were reserved for ceremonies and high honors. Owl feathers were forbidden except in rare instances, for the owl’s cry is an omen of death” (41).

Additionally, Zobel writes speculative fiction, sometimes incorporating cherished cultural figures like Granny Squannit into her novels as a way of keeping them alive. In the summer of 2013 she is expected to release her newest novel, Great Bear Blues, set in New Hampshire.

Feature Story: "The Accomac Business Model"

Zobel won a top national award for “The Accomac Business Model.” The contest, called “Native Insight: Thoughts on Recession, Recovery & Opportunity,” was sponsored by the Alaska Federation of Natives, in partnership with the National Congress of American Indians and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

In this story, Zobel illustrates the challenges of maintaining Native traditions in a rapidly changing, capitalist economy, suggesting that tribal people's cohesive nature might lend itself to cleaning up the current individualistic corporate structure. “The Accomac Business Model” provides the answers to Native longevity: there have always been Native fishermen and hunters, and yet while those same professions still exist today, there are also Native lawyers, doctors, and businesspeople. In both her fiction and her non-fiction, Zobel promotes Native Americans' continuing survival by refusing to let them slip from public memory. Native people have remarkably kept pace with an ever-changing society, while holding firm to the traditions of their ancestors. Zobel calls for the coalescence of progression and tradition in leading Native people to a bold new future.

Family Names

Some of Zobel's earlier publications appear under her maiden name, Melissa Jayne Fawcett. Her Mohegan name was originally “Morning Star”, though Gladys Tantaquidgeon renamed her “Osowano,” meaning “the flower on the corn plant,” corn being a sacred food in Mohegan culture. Zobel has three children whose names embody their tribal heritage. Rachel Beth was named after Rachel Hoscott Fielding, the great-grandmother of Gladys Tantaquidgeon. Madeline Fielding gets her middle name from Mohegan culture keeper Fidelia Fielding. David Uncas was born in 1991, just after Zobel had a vision of her late uncle, Harold Tantaquidgeon, passing the baby to her along the Beautiful White Path. David’s middle name came thus comes from Harold’s hero, the Sachem Uncas.

*This article began as a longer profile for Wikipedia. Thanks to Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel for her assistance and feedback on both that article and this one.

Creator

Zobel, Melissa Tantaquidgeon

Source

Alaska Dispatch News November 4, 2009

Date

2009-11-04

Contributor

Parker Winslow, UNH '13

Language

English

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DV-304

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"The Accomac Business Model" (2009) by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel

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Feature Story: "The Accomac Business Model"

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