After more than 200 years of silence, descendants of Samson Occom have begun to rekindle ties with the College that their ancestor envisioned as a school for the education of Native Americans.
When this vision was eclipsed by that of his teacher, College Founder Eleazar Wheelock, Occom, a Mohegan Indian and traveling preacher, severed his relationship with the College, according to Native American Programs Director John Sirois '91.
Four of Occom's direct descendants, including Mohegan Tribal Chief Ralph Sterges, were invited to the College for a dinner with faculty and administrators last term.
"This is long overdue. Samson Occom is a key figure at Dartmouth. He is just as important as Wheelock if not more," Native American Studies Chair Sergei Kan said.
"Without Samson Occom, there might not have been a Dartmouth College," College Spokesman Alex Huppe said.
The meeting was organized by Lenore O'Jibway, former assistant director of special gifts at the College, who became very instead in the story and began to research Occom's historical connection with the College.
In 1768, Wheelock sent Occom to England to collect funds to build the College and to serve as an example of what type of student Wheelock's school was to produce, Sirois said.
Occom returned from England with a large sum of money -- approximately $1.17 million in modern terms -- to find that Wheelock had altered the original plans for an institution to educate Native Americans, and planned instead to train white men to minister to the natives.
"[Occom's] goal was to 'Christianize' Indians and to purge the 'Indian' out of them," History Professor Jere Daniell said.
Wheelock decided that Native Americans were likely to return to their own ways upon returning to their respective tribes, and that he should instead educate Europeans as ministers, Danielle said.
Heartbroken, Occom handed Wheelock the money and never looked back. Occom continued to preach, but never had dealings with white people again, O'Jibway said.
The College graduated only 20 Native Americans in its first 200 years.
After much research, O'Jibway decided to search out Occom's descendants and made a trip to the tribe in Connecticut.
"The traditional Native American way is that we are all relatives. The meeting was like a homecoming, " O'Jibway said.
O'Jibway said she initially encountered some bitterness from the Mohegans over Occom's treatment, but that the tribe was very pleased at the College's attempt to recognize their ancestor's accomplishments.
"There was hurt, but then happiness. You must acknowledge what's wrong and work through it," O'Jibway said.
O'Jibway offered Sterges a gift of tobacco and several books written about Occom. The chief was so overwhelmed that he wanted to come visit the campus himself, O'Jibway said.
Sterges and his delegation met with Sirois, Kan and others.
"I thought it was an exciting meeting. They have a lot to teach us," Kan said.
"They were really excited to see the legacy of what [Occom] helped build," Sirois said.
The future of relations between Dartmouth and the Mohegans looks promising, Kan said.
Kan hopes that students pursuing a minor in Native American Studies will base their independent research on the Mohegans and surrounding tribes.
O'Jibway said that she hopes the re-kindled relationship will be a support base for the Native American program at the College.Sirois said he would like to see Occom's vision fulfilled by recruiting students from the Mohegan tribe.
"I would definitely like to see Samson's legacy honored. If not by one of his descendants attending Dartmouth, then by someone from his area coming to school here," he said.
Huppe said it is too soon to speculate about the extent to which the relationship will develop.
"Only time will tell what the restoration of the bonds will bring. But whatever it is, it will be of interest to Dartmouth, the Mohegans and the Native American program," Huppe said.
