Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, and Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1826

FAIN: ZDH-283303-22

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (Mashantucket, CT 06338-3804)
Paul Joseph Grant-Costa (Project Director: May 2021 to present)

The creation of ten new jobs and the development of an open-access collection of documents on the 18th-century history of the two Tunxis reservations in Farmington, Connecticut.

Set out in 1640, two Tunxis Indian reservations in Farmington, CT were among the earliest established in America. To more fully understand parts of Farmington as a distinctly Indigenous place, we propose to explore the theme of “A More Perfect Union” through the lens of land transfers by the Tunxis as individuals and as a communal entity for over 180 years.

Associated Products

Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, & Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1841 (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, & Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1841
Author: Paul Grant-Costa
Author: Tobias Glaza
Abstract: Set out in 1640, two Tunxis reservations on both sides of the Tunxis-Sepos River in Farmington, Connecticut were among the earliest established in America. However, by early 19th Century, the tribe and its tenure of communal and private properties had been transformed. To more fully understand parts of Farmington as a distinctly Indigenous place for over 180 years, users can explore the theme of A More Perfect Union through the lens of land transfers by the Tunxis as individuals and as a communal entity. The deeds often contain land coordinates, information about neighboring parcels, genealogical connections, and reasons why the land was sold. Available for tribal, scholarly, educational and public use are 115 freely-accessible images, two forms of transcriptions, metadata, interactive biographies and annotations. Scholars from two Tribal Nations reviewed content, worked collaboratively with project editors in the editorial process, and added tribal knowledge and commentaries. In doing this, project editors expect to bring marginalized perspectives to the center about Indigenous land possession, dispossession, community, assimilation, migration, sovereignty, and individual expressions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness through land ownership and tribal community. We have also created digital humanities tools to enhance learning and promote awareness of an Indigenized landscape. By plotting coordinates of the Tunxis land collection whenever possible, we created an interactive digital map that displays the Native land parcels on the Farmington landscape, provides information about the land and its grantors and grantees, and chronicles changes in Tunxis land ownership on and around the reservation. By presenting the land records chronologically with other Tunxis community records already in the Portal, the creation of a more comprehensive timeline provides more context for understanding the Tunxis as a vibrant, responsive, and sovereign people.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://www.nativenortheastportal.com/collection/common-unities-possession-dispossession-community-tunxis-land-records-1640-1841
Primary URL Description: The Native Northeast Research Collaborative's Native Northeast Portal contains primary source materials by, on, or about Northeast Indians from repositories around the world. Documents are digitized, transcribed, annotated, reviewed by the appropriate contemporary descendant community representatives, and brought together with scholarly annotations and academic/community commentary into one edited interactive digital collection. The Portal currently contains thousands of records associated with scores of Native communities.
Secondary URL: https://www.thenativenortheast.org/
Secondary URL Description: The Native Northeast Research Collaborative (formerly The Yale Indian Papers Project) is an inclusive digital humanities endeavor that engages tribes, scholars, educators, students, and the general public in the study of the Native presence in the Atlantic Northeast. With tribal partnerships extending throughout New England, New York, and the Mid-West, the Collaborative represents an innovative model of intercultural cooperation that brings research on Northeastern Indians into the 21st Century.
Access Model: Open access

Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, & Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1841 Resource Map (Web Resource)
Title: Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, & Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1841 Resource Map
Author: Tobias Glaza
Abstract: Created solely for educational and research purposes with ArcGIS software, the map application is an interactive display of geographic information that can be used to tell stories and answer questions. It currently displays land parcels that, with a mouse click, access popups that reveal informational facets (grantor, grantee, acreage, dates, citation, original repository, and links to images and transcriptions of original documents). This resource is the product of a partnership between the Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, Brothertown Indian Nation, and the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians with generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://tinyurl.com/Common-Unities-Map
Primary URL Description: Common Unities: Possession, Dispossession, & Community in Tunxis Land Records, 1640-1841 Resource Map is an application created with ArcGIS software, an interpretative digital humanities tool on the Native Northeast Portal (the archival repository of the Native Northeast Research Center).

A Documentary History of the Tunxis People (Web Resource)
Title: A Documentary History of the Tunxis People
Author: Paul Grant-Costa
Author: Tobias Glaza
Abstract: Created with Knight Lab's Timeline JS software, this digital humanities tool displays Tunxis land records created during the ARP NEH grant period together with other Tunxis records already in the Native Northeast Portal producing a more comprehensive timeline of tribal documentary history and providing a fuller context for understanding the Tunxis as a vibrant, responsive, and sovereign people. This interactive resource is the product of a partnership between the Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, Brothertown Indian nation, and the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians with generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Year: 2003
Primary URL: https://tinyurl.com/Common-Unities-Timeline
Primary URL Description: A Documentary History of the Tunxis People is a collection of digital heritage items from the Native Northeast Portal, the archival repository of the Native Northeast Research Center.

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