The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center is one of the areas greatest cultural centers, and that reputation was recently enhanced further by two spirited readings of Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers, a play by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.

    The play, produced by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Member Ariel Merrill and directed by Bob Jaffe, tells the story of Craig Robe, a Native American who returns to his Montana reservation after ten years in the city. Upon his return, conflict arises within his family due to the differences in how he and his brothers deal with their mixed race identities and the prejudice they face.

    William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., a member of the Assiniboine Nation, starred as the lead, with Mashantucket Pequot Michael E. Johnson as the older brother with whom conflict arises. Narragansett Tribal Member and museum employee Chris Fry played their younger brother, with Ariel Merrill pulling double duty as their sister. The cast also included Aaron Gooday, who works in the museum as part of the Tribe's Public Relations department and is a member of the White Mountain Apache of Arizona. Director Bob Jaffe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Member Asia Carter and Wampanoag Tribal Member Deborah Spears Moorehead rounded out the (More)

Minority Health Conference delivers a wealth of information

Tribal Council Secretary Charlene Jones, a keynote speaker at the New England Regional Minority Health Conference, addresses attendees at the events opening ceremonies on April 2 at Foxwoods. Toni Parker-Johnson photo

The 5^th New England Regional Minority Health Conference was held on April 2-4 at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The theme was "Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities by 2010: Moral & Economic Imperatives". The three-day event was co-hosted by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health. It was supported by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services - Office of Minority Health - Region I.

    Keynote speakers at the opening ceremonies included Charlene Jones, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council Secretary, Toni N. Harp, Senator, 10^th Conn. Senatorial District, and J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH Commissioner Conn. Dept. of Public Health.

    "I applaud all of you here today and all of your efforts to reduce disparity in healthcare and hope together we can provide affordable, accessible, culturally sensitive, high-quality healthcare (More)

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