Fidelia Fielding
| Fidelia Hoscott Fielding | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Dji'ts Bud dnaca ("Flying Bird") |
| Born | 1827 |
| Died | 1908 |
| Resting place | Fort Shantok State Park, Montville, Connecticut |
| Residence | One of the last local residents in a traditional wigwam |
| Known for | Last speaker of Mohegan-Pequot language |
| Home town | Uncasville, Connecticut |
| Spouse(s) | William Fielding |
| Relatives | Stephanie Fielding |
Fidelia Ann Hoscott Smith Fielding (1827–1908), also known as Dji'ts Bud dnaca ("Flying Bird"), was the daughter of Bartholomew Valentine Smith (c. 1811-1843) and Sarah A. Wyyougs (1804-1868), and granddaughter of Martha Shantup Uncas (1761-1859).
She married Mohegan mariner William H. Fielding (1811-1843), and they lived in one of the last "tribe houses," a reservation-era log cabin dwelling. She was known to be an independent-minded woman who was well-versed in tribal traditions, and who continued to speak the traditional Mohegan Pequot language during her elder years.
Fidelia insisted upon retaining the everyday use of the Mohegan language during an era when most New England Native peoples were becoming increasingly fluent in English. Her maternal grandmother Martha Uncas spoke it with family members, and other Mohegan people continued to speak and understand some of the language, but by 1900, few were as fluent as Fidelia and her sister. As an adult, Fielding kept four diaries in the language, which later became vital sources for reconstructing the syntax of Mohegan Pequot and related Algonquian languages.
Fidelia was regarded as a nanu (respected elder woman) and mentor to Gladys Tantaquidgeon, a traditional Mohegan woman who also studied anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a research assistant to Frank Speck. Gladys conducted field work and service work for a variety of Native communities and agencies before coming home to Uncasville. In Uncasville, Gladys and her family founded the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum, and she became a respected elder herself, working on material and cultural preservation.
Many modern sources suggest that anthropologist Frank G. Speck, as a child, lived with Fidelia Fielding, but there is no evidence to support that in any Mohegan tribal records or oral memories. Speck recalled, in his own publications and correspondence, that he first met Fidelia around 1900, when he was an anthropology student at Columbia University. Speck was in the midst of a camping trip to Fort Shantok, Connecticut, when he met up with several Mohegan young men---Burrill Tantaquidgeon, Jerome Roscoe Skeesucks, and Edwin Fowler---who introduced him to Fielding. This encounter sparked a lifelong friendship with the Tantaquidgeon family. Speck interviewed Fidelia, recording notes on the Mohegan language that he shared with his professor, John Dyneley Prince, who encouraged further research. Fidelia eventually allowed Speck to view her personal daybooks (also called diaries) in which she recorded brief observations on the weather and local events, so that he could understand and accurately record the written version of the Mohegan language.
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