Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council

The Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council (ACQTC) is an alliance dedicated to the history and culture of the Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac

This article is about the Native American nation. For the university, see Quinnipiac University.The Quinnipiac — rarely spelled Quinnipiack — is the English name for the Eansketambawg a Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the Wampanoki This article is about the Native...

, the aboriginal peoples of the North American region now known as Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. ACQTC, Inc. incorporated under the laws of the State of Connecticut

Connecticut

as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit/non-stock corporation in 1989, after a decade of organizing the Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac

people. The United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

, on 18 January 2001, under its Tribal Government Organization Section, has determined that ACQTC is additionally a 509(a)(2) entity.

Iron Thunderhorse

Iron Thunderhorse

Iron Thunderhorse, Biwabiko Paddaquahas, is CEO and Legal Sovereign of ACQTC, Inc., and Hereditary Grand Sachem and Powwamanitomp of the Quinnipiac Thunder Clan.-Ancestry and childhood:...

is the Grand Sachem (equivalent to CEO) of ACQTC. The graphic at right, used prominently on the ACQTC website is his interpretation of a pictograph found on an artifact found in the region originally inhabited by the Quinnipiac. Thunderhorse claims this is a traditional Thunder Clan design known as a THUNDERER — half thunderbird

Thunderbird (mythology)

The Thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a "supernatural" bird of power and strength...

, half human.

Purpose Statement

According to their website, the stated purposes of the ACQTC are:

To preserve, protect, enhance, and propagate our Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...

-speaking cultural heritage;
To revive, restore, and revitalize the language and culture in particular of the Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac
This article is about the Native American nation. For the university, see Quinnipiac University.The Quinnipiac — rarely spelled Quinnipiack — is the English name for the Eansketambawg a Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the Wampanoki This article is about the Native...

people (originally of SW Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

) and our kindred;
To protect and restore Mother Earth, Father Sky and all our relations to their natural balance and to foster respect and harmony in this quest;
To teach and share the values, history, culture, language, arts & crafts, of the Quinnipiac and kindred Algonquian peoples, whose traditions were considered lost until the ACQTC was formed;
To research and keep current with indigenous affairs and to promote both unity and harmony in the Native American communities, on and off the reservations;
To share our personal pride, ancestral knowledge, and wisdom;
To lecture, perform, and teach or otherwise present our culture, values, and ceremonies as an Algonquian ethos and map for living in balance in our world.

Membership

According to their website, the ACQTC has three forms of membership: full, confederate, and honorary.

Full membership includes those whose lineages trace back to the family names of Manweeyeuh, Mahwee, Cockenoe, Nonsuch, Soebuck, Redhead, Sock, Brown, Adams, Griswold, Parmalee, Curley, Skeesucks, LaFrance, Quinney, Ninham, Dean, Thompson/Tompson, Peters, Montour, Marchand, Klingerschmidt, Moses, Cornelius, Higheum, Waubeno, Douglas, Scott, Anthony, Butler, Burnham, Rouleau, and Hazel. ACQTC reports there are 50 to 100 families in this category.

Confederate membership includes refugee families who trace their ancestry to the refugiums and enclaves cited above at NY, MA, PA, RI, IN, OH, WI, KS, TX, and Quebec (Canada). ACQTC reports there are about 100 families in this category.

Honorary membership are adoptees who “enter into the sacred BOND OF THE COVENANT with the ACQTC Central Council Fire and ACQTC Grand Council Fire Confederacy to honor, protect, and revitalize our language, religion, and traditions, and to honor our traditional obligations as Gechanniwitank (aboriginal land-stewards), under our ‘aboriginal title to land’ rights, where Quinnipiac ancestors worshipped the creator and creation at certain landmarks within our ancestral sachemdom.” ACQTC reports there are 25 to 50 families in this category.

Organizational structure

The ACQTC is an alliance of two separate tribal councils. The Quinnipiac Tribal Council (QTC) is described as the “maweomi of Elders [which] includes sachems, sagamores, dudas (clan mothers), a head-woman, etc., who represent the full membership.” The Algonquian Confederacy (AC) operates as the “Grand Council” of confederated allies (i.e. other tribal groups of the Algonquian family). Another analogy was provided by Iron Thunderhorse in his 2002-01-17 column in the Branford Review: "The AC (Algonquian Confederacy) is our Grand Council comparative to the U.S. Senate, while QTC (Quinnipiac Tribal Council or central fire) is comparative to the U.S. House of Representatives."

Annual Powwow

For several years, the ACQTC cosponsored an annual powwow, open to the public, in Branford, Connecticut

Branford, Connecticut

-Landmarks and attractions:Branford has six historic districts that are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . These include buildings in Federal, Arts and Crafts, and Queen Anne styles of architecture...

and vicinity during the third weekend in July. The last public annual powwow was held at the Ancoda Farm near Scotland, Connecticut

Scotland, Connecticut

Scotland is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,556. Scotland is a predominantly rural town, with agriculture as the principal industry.-Geography:...

in July 2003. In previous years it had been held in the Branford, Connecticut

Branford, Connecticut

area. The annual powwow has been closed to the public since then so ACQTC and cosponsoring organizations could "focus [their] efforts on organizing a volunteer workforce, holding fund drives, and obtaining grants to build up the infrastructure at the Ancoda Farm gathering site (new roads, parking areas, and campsites)."

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