We share the sad news of the passing of our friend, colleague, and mentor, Marcia Jones Flowers (Dreaming Spirits). The former chairwoman of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the community’s genealogist and historian, she spearheaded one of the federal recognition efforts that lead to a preliminary positive decision from the BIA. As tribal chair, she was instrumental in unifying the two groups of Eastern Pequot into one vibrant tribal community.
Marcia served as a consultant for the Yale Indian Papers Project, especially in its early conceptual stages. Some of her ideas live on in the design of our work. She was an advocate for us presenting typographical facsimile transcriptions (Scholars Transcriptions) as a research option.
Her energy, compassion, and devotion to her community and to recovering the Eastern Pequot historical presence had no equal. Neither did her smile and her laugh.
We will miss her greatly.
Our condolences to her family and to the Eastern Pequot community.
Paul & Toby