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Health & Wellness

Gladys Tantaquidgeon 

Mohegan Tribal Medicine Woman

Gladys Tantaquidgeon (1899–2005) brought an Indigenous worldview to her ethnobotanical research among the Delaware, Nanticoke, Cayuga, and Wampanoag tribes of the East Coast. Born to Mohegan parents, Tantaquidgeon trained in Indigenous practices with Mohegan knowledge keepers Emma Baker, Mercy Mathews, and Fidelia Fielding. She published significant works on tribal knowledge and on the use of local natural resources to create traditional herbal medicines. This photo was taken in 1922, when Tantaquidgeon and Nanticoke leaders successfully lobbied at the Delaware State Capitol for a school where Native American children could receive a modern education and learn traditional values.

 

 Tantaquidgeon and Nanticoke leaders stand on the steps of the Delaware State Capitol.

National Museum of the American Indian

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  • WomensHistory@si.edu

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