By Jason Mancini, Senior Researcher, MPMRC

With contributions from Debra Jones, Candyce King, and Erin Hall

Recently, and in the spirit of the new school year, I was asked to write a brief article on how the Mashantucket Pequot taught their youth.  Historically speaking many Pequot children from the 17th century onward were indentured servants or laborers educated in Euro-American households. Removed from their communities and stripped of language and cultural traditions, shamed of and compelled to hide their Indian identity, little has been written and recorded about the educational practices of Native people in the New England.

    In the October issue of the Pequot Times, Tribal Member Debra Jones shared her experience, and in this issue her fellow Pequot Candyce King does the same. In the December issue, Erin Hall will write about her upbringing in the final part of this series.

Candyce King, age 31:

Growing up my parents worked a lot in order to give us the barest of necessities and so I was given many tasks at an early age.  For example, at age six I was responsible for changing diapers, giving bottles, and pulling the chair up to the stove to cook grilled cheese sandwiches.  I also watched my sister and brother in the morning while my parents slept because they worked the night shift and needed the extra sleep in the morning.

    I was the oldest, so I was always responsible for watching my sister and brother after school for two or more hours until my parents came home. I would have to figure out ways to coerce them into doing chores and this usually resulted in my brother throwing logs at me or my throwing spoons at them, while chasing them out the door so I could just do the chores myself.

    My parents taught us independence by having us learn how to care for ourselves, although I used to tell my parents that the only reason they had children was to have live-in slaves. We were responsible for carrying in fire wood and water, collecting kindling, keeping the fire going, putting a pot on for coffee and cooking dinner.  Not to mention laundry day on Sunday when we would boil the hot water on the stove and pour it into the ancient washing machine.  I will always remember the day I got my fingers stuck in the ringer; I'm surprised they didn't break.

    At age twelve, I was strongly encouraged to sign up for raking blueberries.  I was very excited to have the opportunity to make my own money to use for buying school clothes.  I enjoyed raking blueberries because I was competitive and quite proud when I raked as many or more boxes of blueberries than my friend Valerie.  I enjoyed being outside all day in the hot sun with nothing to do but rake blueberries and have conversations.  I met a lot of Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Indians while working in the fields.  These Natives came from all over Maine and would spend the month of August living on, "The compound" that consisted of many shacks for them to live in free, as long as they raked a certain number of boxes of blueberries each week. 

    I was ridiculed at school because of my skin color, living in the woods and being poor.  I was called "Pocahontas," "Sacajawea," "Cocoa-baby" and "Hershey squirt."  I was even accused of having moose-fleas because I lived in the woods with the moose.  In the fifth grade I became aware of how much poorer my family was when compared to the families of my schoolmates and so I became very depressed, shy and withdrawn as I became ashamed of my lifestyle and instead secretly yearned for a home life similar to everyone else. 

    Being enrolled into the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in November of 2001 was one of the greatest days of my life. I thoroughly enjoy working at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center as well as on Tribal Committees because I know these projects will one day directly affect the lives of my children and grandchildren.  I now feel as if I am finally home, I am finally a part of a community and so I am content.