Arrowhead Farm
In 2017, the Eastern Connecticut Community Garden Association helped the tribe return to gardening in order to provide education and sustenance for those in need. As the tribe only had four raised beds and two in-ground beds, it needed to expand to provide more. In the winter of 2020-21, Hull Forestry and Woodland Management Services cleared 4 acres of land. It was a necessity to clear trees and vegetation to allow light and space, since the reservation's location is in New England's Eastern Woodlands.
Please consider donating to this cause. Your donation will help preserve a native tribe which fought hard to survive through first contact, colonialism, and now economic and nutritional hardship.
Construction of our community center building is set to begin in the spring of 2021 on two acres of land adjacent to the community garden. Oskoosooduck Community Garden occupies the remaining 2 acres, which will be fenced off with a 7-foot deer fence to prevent unwanted animals. Different sections of the garden will be designated for different types of plants. Traditional eastern woodlands will include squash, corn, and beans as well as tobacco and community beds for members who are interested in learning to grow their own crops.
Gallery
History
Prior to the Pequot War in 1637, the Eastern Pequots resided along the coastal shores in the summer and retreated inland in the winter and shellfish constituted a large part of the Pequot diet. In the aftermath of the war, a lack of access to traditional locations led to a shift in what would be used for nutrients throughout the year.
In 1678 the Connecticut Court appointed a committee to find a “suitable tract of land for Momoho and the Pequots with him.” By 1683 a plot of 280 acres was deeded over to the tribe, and they have resided there ever since, the land is held by the State in trust for the tribe’s benefit
The Eastern Pequots were forced onto land south of Lantern Hill, nestled along Long Pond in North Stonington. Despite working with the land and maintaining self-sufficiency, the tribe needed to learn effective ways to adapt to colonization.
The Eastern Pequot’s Chief or Sachem Momoho, had a daughter named Oskoosooduck also known as Pashkhanash, Mary Ninigret, Mary Sowas, or most notably Mary Momoho (1671-1752). She was a Sunksquaw or female leader who would petition to the Connecticut Colony Courts on behalf of the tribe to protect the Eastern Pequot Reservation from encroachment by neighboring colonist.