Fox-Running with Sachemdom Map
Quinnipiac Medicine Man Goes Back to School
by Iron Thunderhorse, June, 2004
Yes, friends and neighbors, members and affiliates, our very own Medicine Man, Gordon Fox-Running Brainerd (of the ACQTC TOTOKET Band at Branford, CT), has gone back to school! It wasn’t as a student, though; this time he returned to teach the youngsters of our next generation within our ancestral Sachemdom. The Brainerd family has a long history of living at Oiocommock (Stony Creek) that goes back many generations.
Gordon (Ike), or Fox-Running as he is known to us, is of mixed Native ancestry. He is part Onondaga (the firekeepers or central fire Nation of the Iroquois’ original Five Nation Confederacy) and part Algonquian (as confirmed recently by ACQTC via internet research). Gordon Fox-Running Brainerd is a direct descendant of Chief Piedmont from the Wolf Lake Algonquian Nation of Kebec (Quebec) Province, Canada. This is especially great news since our Grand Sachem (Iron Thunderhorse) has ties to this same Band (through his step-father, who hails from that band).
In Spring 2004, Fox-Running was invited to give a discussion at the Walsh Intermediate School in Branford, CT, where he was welcomed by Principal Robin Gader, 7th grade teacher Andrea De Nicola, and two other teachers, Jean Crow and Hap Ponza.
Fox-Running used his own selection of artifacts from his collection, as well as regalia items and crafts to give the students a personal, hands-on understanding of how our ancestors lived, worshipped, and carried out daily tasks. He also used a frame color-coded map of our ancestral Sachemdom, circa 1500--1600, created by Iron Thunderhorse.
The children got to listen and learn, and to touch and hear the words spoken as Fox-Running made his presentation, which included a native prayer. One student recorded the event for posterity on her camcorder. Fox-Running and D. J. Howell have been invited back for additional sessions.
Fox-Running with Students and Teachers
