News and Events

ACQTC, Inc. LEGAL CAVEAT & PUBLIC NOTICE — January 2010

The Following Persons/ Entities Take Public Notice:

• Ed Sarabia, CT Indian Affairs Coordinator/DEP
• Nick Bellontini, CT State Archaeologist
• Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, East CT
• Pawcatuck Pequot Tribe, East CT
• Mohegan Tribe, East CT
• City of New Haven, CT Parks Department
• CT Department of Education
• The Estate of Henry (Harry) & Doris B. Townshend

This is an official ACQTC Inc./ACQTC.ORG CAVEAT, and Public Notice of our INTENT to Sue in Federal Court for acts of discrimination by false information and fraud, racial/religious/ethnic intolerance and animus in public venues including but not limited to educational institutions, parks, Indian trails, landmarks etc. that has operated to convey a false, misleading, inaccurate and at times discriminatory characterization of Quinnipiac/Quiripey (and all of our traditional sub-tribes) and has been accomplished in a collusion, conspiracy and concerted effort of Christianized/Assimilated Indians (who have never been indigenous to CT) with Puritan Descendants and contemporary state and city officials to deprive ACQTC Inc. and its membership from enjoying their Constitutional Rights and Rights secured by International Law of the United Nations of Indigenous Peoples.

For full text download LegalCaveat-20100101.pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF-reader required to view)

Coming Mar 2010: Quinnipiac/Long-Water-Land Spring Symposium

ACQTC has sent out e-mail flyers and snail mail invitations to a dozen regional historical societies, museums, and other Algonquian Tribal Group representatives of Connecticut. The agenda, time and place of the Quinnipiac/Long-Water-Land Spring Symposium will be part of a 3 days celebration welcoming Princess Red Raven as the new ACQTC Headwoman.

This symposium will address key issues relevant to the Quinnipiac, and the newest research of Iron Thunderhorse published in Volumes 5 and 6 of THE DAWNLANDER (ACQTC Literary Journal). This will be a Round-Table Symposium to share knowledge that is obscure and rare and confirms that the Quinnipiac continued to exist throughout Western CT, NY, and elsewhere throughout the 19th, 20th and now the 21st centuries with multiple sources of evidence.

Shalini Red-Raven Mahweeyeuh-Bhgarva will host and welcome all the guests and give a keynote oration to begin the event. It will take place at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum, Library and Archives on Saturday, March 20th, 2010, from 8 AM to 6 PM.

Jan 2010: Thunderbird Alliance Web-Site On-Line

One of the primary purposes of ACQTC Inc. is religion and religious freedom for all Native Americans, especially those denied the right to practice Native American shamanism.

During the 1980s Iron Thunderhorse founded The Thunderbird Alliance (as a division of ACQTC Inc.), a coalition of Medicine Societie, Native American Church Groups, Outside Support Networks and Native Religious Circles in the nation's prisons.

Recently ThunderbirdAlliance.com went on-line. This is a brand new website created and designed by Iron Thunderhorse and maintained by The Thunderbird Alliance Web Group. It is devoted to "Freedom Of Religion For Native American Prisoners". Much of the site is up and running but a few sections still have materials that will be added in the coming months.

If you are interested in supporting the rights of Native American prisoners to practice their religious freedom behind bars under the 1ST Amendment to the U.S. Constitution we encourage you to log on and visit this new site.

For your convenience, you can sign up at the site to be sent emails notifying you when new materials have been added.

Jan 2010: ACQTC Selected as Official Hosts to the 2010 Americana Cup Soccer Tournaments Opening Ceremonies

The ACQTC “Long Water Land People” have been selected, and have officially accepted, the invitation to act as Hosts to the 2010 Americana Cup Soccer Tournament. It will be held in Bridgeport, CT, from June 19th to June 27th, 2010. Soccer teams from nations throughout the world will compete for the cup.

The official announcement, ACQTC logos, etc. can be viewed on their web-site: http://www.americanacup.us/

Join ACQTC at the games and we will see you at the opening ceremonies to be held on June 19th, 2010. A delegation of ACQTC elders, children and Quinnipiac representatives will be there to welcome visitors from around the world.

Jan 2010: Quinnipiac Quarterly Socials

ACQTC announces that starting in the Spring of 2010 it will sponsor, conduct and maintain quarterly socials to celebrate the four seasons. For 2010, these socials will be held on the following dates:

Each quarterly social will be celebrated with traditional feasting, long house observances and visits to sacred landmarks and graves.

Jan 2010: New Quinnipiac Headwoman Begins in 2010

On January 1st, 2010, Mrs. Ruth Duncan Mahweeyeuh-Thunderhorse, at age 75, steps down as the Quinnipiac Headwoman and passes along her traditional obligations to her daughter, while retaining the inherited role of Sunksquaw.

Shalini Squayo-Piressiwa (Red-Raven) Mahweeyeuh-Bhargava (daughter of Iron Thunderhorse and Little Owl/Ruth Thunderhorse) takes over the position of Quinnipiac Headwoman officially on January 1st, 2010. She will receive a number of hereditary traditional gifts from her Mother and Father as visual/symbolic emblems of her power, authority and sovereignty.

For the full story, see New Headwoman 2010.

ACQTC Student Intern Program

Each year ACQTC selects and accepts a number of College Student interns from regional colleges and universities in the Long Water Land Sachemdom. In this program, college students work directly with our elders and members, get advice and consultation when writing research papers, a thesis or dissertation relevant to our culture and history, and get involved in hands-on projects that earn extra credits.

So, if you are a college student attending school in our region and you are interested in this program, use our Contact ACQTC page to tell us about yourself, your college, your degree plan and your interests; or send a letter with that information to:

Nov 2009: Announcing the Iron Thunderhorse Collection

Over the years the works of Iron Thunderhorse have been scattered about in private and public collections all over the USA, Canada and abroad. In the past several years ACQTC has been organizing the Iron Thunderhorse Collection of books, manuscripts, scholarly research papers, newspaper columns, feature articles, prose and poetry, arts and crafts. This collection also includes important letters to and from Iron Thunderhorse, emails from students, teachers, professors, historians etc. This collection focuses on the Algonquian culture in general with its history, language, lore and traditions while specializing in the Quinnipiac Long Water Land Nation and Wappinger-Mattabesec Confederacy in particular.

ACQTC will be selecting six (6) regional Long-Water-Land archives (Historical Societies and Universities) from Western CT and Quinnipiac University and it has chosen one other National Archives so far to begin receiving digital copies of the collection between 2010 to 2012.

For more information, see: Iron Thunderhorse Collection

Nov 2009: Beginning in 2010, Reclaiming Our Heritage and Identity series

A new SERIES of Feature Articles — exclusive to ACQTC.ORG and written by Iron Thunderhorse — will begin appearing in 2010. The Reclaiming Our Heritage and Identity series is expected to continue through at least 2012. The feature articles in this series will focus on critical issues facing the First Nations of Turtle Island in the 21st Century. A Preview of some of the subjects scheduled for this new SERIES includes the following:

• We Are Not Native Americans Or American Indians
• The Concept of “Tribe” Is Not Applicable And Must be Abolished
• Indigenous People’s Day Replaces Columbus Day
• Alcohol, Guns, Drugs and Enculturation … The Subjugation of Our Culture and Heritage
• The Renaming of Our Indigenous Nations
• Abolition of The Papal Bull Edicts of the Roman Catholic Empire Against Non-Christian Indigenous Cultures
• Atrocities Committed Against Non-Christian Indigenous Cultures, In the Free World and Behind Bars

Bring Your Own Popcorn….

Nov 2009: Coming in 2010, an ACQTC/QU Round Table Symposium

For the past year, ACQTC, faculty members at Quinnipiac University, and various local Historical Societies have been exploring different scenarios for debates, documentaries, etc. We are excited to announce our final decision.

In 2010 (dates to be determined), there will be a ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM. ACQTC will invite a half dozen Historical Society/Museums from Western Connecticut and Long Island, Quinnipiac University faculty and students, and Documentary-Film Departments to participate.

In this forum (we expect it to cover 2 or 3 days) very rare and unique historical documents that ACQTC has uncovered at these society and museum archives will be shared and verified. Several new CDs full of scholarly studies by Iron Thunderhorse will also be revealed for the first time with transcriptions of rare deeds, wills, and other information that proves families of the Long Water Land Nation, the Quinnipiac, continued to live and exist in Greater New Haven, eastern NY, northern NJ, etc. long after they were thought “extinct” or relocated.

Stay tuned on this webpage for more details as the specifics of this Round Table Symposium are finalized.

Nov 2009: ACQTC and Quinnipiac University

Professor Ben Page, at Quinnipiac University and ACQTC members, student interns of ACQTC, etc. have been discussing several kinds of activities for the next few semesters. A Point & Counter Point Debate between ACQTC and a Historical Society is being discussed. Professor Page has invited ACQTC elders to participate in his class “Native Americans in the American Community”, and last but by no means least, there is lots of interest in a film or documentary with assistance by the Quinnipiac University award-winning Film Department.

News of these events and projects will be posted in this section of ACQTC.ORG.