Martha married Uncas and had two children, Levi and Mary. Some of the tumultuous events of Martha’s life, including the birth of her seven children, are synthesized in the following description by her student Emma Baker:

That might hold true now…I might skip a generation.

So in later time, I worked as her Vice President. One thing I notice, that in connection with the Wigwam Brush Arbor Festival, my great aunt Emma Baker selected her niece Nettie Fowler, and I assisted her and I was her niece.

Mohegan Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon explained how culture-keepers, like Martha, Fidelia, Emma, and herself, selected their students: Hoscott Fielding and grandniece Emma Baker. In keeping with Mohegan tradition, Martha taught her most important lessons only to two chosen protégés, one generation removed from her offspring: her granddaughter Fidelia A. Furthermore, she still found time to pass on traditional tribal lifeways to select Mohegans. Regardless, she managed to raise numerous children who were descended from diverse tribal lines. Her men frequently moved away to look for work, hunt, or fight in wars. During the course of her life she had several husbands. However, when considering these numbers, it is important to note that many Mohegans were seamen, and their extended numbers are unknown.Īmidst all this, Martha Shantup Uncas fought for the demographic survival of her Nation. Records show Mohegan heads of households equaling 35 and the grand total of individuals numbered 84. By 1799, Mohegan numbers were diminished by Samson Occum’s removal of the Mohegan Indians to Oneida Indian territory (in New York) and by the Revolutionary War. In 1774, tribal regent Zachary Johnson verified a tribal roster consisting of 14 “male heads of households” (or 26 including female heads). Tribal records show two colonists named Daniel Leffingwell and Robert Allen-who claimed to be “well acquainted all along with the Indians since childhood”-wrote that “of late the number of the said Tribe has been very much diminished by a mortal sickness that came upon them.” At that time, 28 male heads of households were listed. She was born into a difficult era following a tribal plague in 1755. This great matriarch lived from 1761 to 1859. Brief biographies of these major women culture-keepers follow.

They are beyond time and exist only in memory. However, since before the American Revolution, four women in particular have passed on Mohegan stories. Mohegan history and religion have been preserved by many different voices in many different families through Mohegan Oral Tradition.

Our Tribal Future by David R. Samson