Fidelia Fielding
| Fidelia Hoscott Fielding | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Dji'ts Bud dnaca |
| Born | 1827 |
| Died | 1908 |
| Resting place | Fort Shantok State Park, Montville, Connecticut |
| Residence | One of the last local residents in a traditional wigwam |
| Ethnicity | Mohegan[1] |
| Known for | Last speaker of Mohegan-Pequot language |
| Influenced by | Martha Uncas |
| Influenced | Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Frank Speck |
| Home town | Uncasville, Connecticut, |
| Spouse(s) | William Fielding |
Fidelia Hoscott Fielding (1827–1908) (Mohegan), also known as Dji'ts Bud dnaca (Flying Bird), was the last native speaker of the Mohegan-Pequot language. Credited with being instrumental in teaching and preserving the language, she was posthumously inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Language work
Fidelia learned the language from her maternal grandmother Martha Uncas and spoke it with her. As an adult, Fielding kept four diaries in the language, which have been vital to reconstructing Mohegan Pequot and related Algonquian languages.
She was a nanu (respected elder woman) and mentor to Gladys Tantaquidgeon, a Mohegan who became an anthropologist and worked in language and cultural preservation.[1]
Frank Speck, as an anthropology student at Columbia University, came to Uncasville seeking Fielding. The experience of living with her encouraged Speck's studies of Native American languages and cultures. He based his study of the language on her testimony. After her death, Speck's translations of her diaries were preserved in New York City's National Museum of the American Indian archives.[2]
[edit] Personal
Fidelia Hoscott married William Fielding. She was independent and continued to live in the traditional Mohegan lifestyle, being one of the last in her area to live in a traditional Mohegan wigwam.[3][2]
[edit] Legacy and honors
Fielding is one of three American Indians who have been inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 1994 under the category: Education & Preservation.[2] Gladys Tantaquidgeon was also inducted in the Hall.[3]
She was buried at the Ancient Burial Grounds of the Mohegans at Fort Shantok State Park in Montville, Connecticut, with an estimated 1,000 people in attendance on May 24, 1936.[2]
Linguists from the Mohegan Language Project, including her relative Stephanie Fielding, have begun working with materials compiled and archived by Fielding and Speck in order to reconstruct and revive the Mohegan-Pequot language for new generations.[2]
[edit] Notes
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