Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 19 hours ago
Chief Lynn Malerba, "United States Policy and Indigenous People: Why Trust and Treaty Obligations Matter"
11 March 2021, 19:00 EST
Lesley University
29 Everett St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
ZOOM
Sponsors: Mosse Lectures, Mosse Foundation, Lesley University
Moderated by Janet Steinmayer, President, Lesley University
2021 Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture: @-lesley/community-engagement/strauch-mosse-visiting-artist-lectures
The Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series welcomes Chief Mutawi Mutahas (Many Hearts) Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba, 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, who discusses how colonization and subsequent US Policy has affected our Indigenous nations and how our sovereign tribal nations engage with the sovereign that is now the United States.
The Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series, funded by Lesley University Chair of the Board Hans Strauch and the Mosse Foundation, brings world-renowned artists to campus.
More than a third of Lesley’s undergraduate and graduate students are engaged in the arts, whether through the university’s art and design, creative writing, community arts, or expressive therapies programs. This visiting artist lecture series serves as a catalyst for artistic and cultural inquiry. It reinforces arts integration across our schools. And best of all—it’s free and open to the public.
Excerpt from Lesley University story on Chief Lynn Malerba’s lecture, by Georgia Sparling: @oken-promises-mohegan-chief-calls-for-us-to-uphold-treaties-with-native-people
"Broken promises: Mohegan chief calls for U.S. to uphold treaties with Native people"
When Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Lynn Malerba received her Mohegan name, she was told that it signified the many hearts she’d held in her career as a nurse, as well as the hearts she now held as leader of her people.
In the decade since she became the 18th chief of the Connecticut-based Native American tribe, she has sought to live up to her name.
“She is her tribe’s most powerful advocate and a strong advocate for the rights of all native and indigenous people,” Lesley President Janet L. Steinmayer said in her introduction of Malerba on Thursday night as Lesley welcomed her to campus, virtually, as part of our Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
Before becoming chief, a position also held by her great-grandfather, Malerba had an extensive career as a registered nurse. She also served in a number of roles with the Mohegan tribe, including as chair of the Tribal Council and executive director of health and human services for the tribal government.
In her hour-long talk, “United States Policy and Indigenous People: Why Trust and Treaty Obligations Matter,” Malerba discussed the consequences of centuries of legislation aimed at reducing and eliminating Indigenous peoples, that has left them in poverty with scarce resources.
“Layer a pandemic on top of that and we are really struggling here,” said Malerba. “How do you deal with the pandemic when you don’t have complete plumbing? How do you get people to care if you don’t have a telephone and you need to call emergency services?”
Broken promises
For the Mohegans, the century following “first contact” with European colonizers resulted in a loss of 90 percent of their population and land. Documents from the time show that tribal leaders tried to gain sovereignty, basically saying, “we want to be left alone. We’re very happy that you’re here but we want to live our own lives,” Malerba paraphrased.
The tribe even won one case against the colony of Connecticut, only to have it overturned on an appeal.
In the intervening years, the United States entered into, then reneged on, a number of treaties with Native American people, said Malerba, who serves on the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee of the Federal Indian Health Service, Justice Department’s Tribal Nations Leadership Council, Tribal Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Health, and Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee.
She cited the Snyder Act of 1921, which authorized funding for health services for American Indians; the 1928 Meriam Report, which found failings by the federal government in regards to the health, education and financial stability of tribes; and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, of which the goal was to give more self-governance to Native Americans.
Chief Lynn Malerba, "United States Policy and Indigenous People: Why Trust and Treaty Obligations Matter"
11 March 2021, 19:00 EST
Lesley University
29 Everett St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
ZOOM
Sponsors: Mosse Lectures, Mosse Foundation, Lesley University
Moderated by Janet Steinmayer, President, Lesley University
2021 Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture: @-lesley/community-engagement/strauch-mosse-visiting-artist-lectures
The Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series welcomes Chief Mutawi Mutahas (Many Hearts) Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba, 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, who discusses how colonization and subsequent US Policy has affected our Indigenous nations and how our sovereign tribal nations engage with the sovereign that is now the United States.
The Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series, funded by Lesley University Chair of the Board Hans Strauch and the Mosse Foundation, brings world-renowned artists to campus.
More than a third of Lesley’s undergraduate and graduate students are engaged in the arts, whether through the university’s art and design, creative writing, community arts, or expressive therapies programs. This visiting artist lecture series serves as a catalyst for artistic and cultural inquiry. It reinforces arts integration across our schools. And best of all—it’s free and open to the public.
Excerpt from Lesley University story on Chief Lynn Malerba’s lecture, by Georgia Sparling: @oken-promises-mohegan-chief-calls-for-us-to-uphold-treaties-with-native-people
"Broken promises: Mohegan chief calls for U.S. to uphold treaties with Native people"
When Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Lynn Malerba received her Mohegan name, she was told that it signified the many hearts she’d held in her career as a nurse, as well as the hearts she now held as leader of her people.
In the decade since she became the 18th chief of the Connecticut-based Native American tribe, she has sought to live up to her name.
“She is her tribe’s most powerful advocate and a strong advocate for the rights of all native and indigenous people,” Lesley President Janet L. Steinmayer said in her introduction of Malerba on Thursday night as Lesley welcomed her to campus, virtually, as part of our Strauch-Mosse Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
Before becoming chief, a position also held by her great-grandfather, Malerba had an extensive career as a registered nurse. She also served in a number of roles with the Mohegan tribe, including as chair of the Tribal Council and executive director of health and human services for the tribal government.
In her hour-long talk, “United States Policy and Indigenous People: Why Trust and Treaty Obligations Matter,” Malerba discussed the consequences of centuries of legislation aimed at reducing and eliminating Indigenous peoples, that has left them in poverty with scarce resources.
“Layer a pandemic on top of that and we are really struggling here,” said Malerba. “How do you deal with the pandemic when you don’t have complete plumbing? How do you get people to care if you don’t have a telephone and you need to call emergency services?”
Broken promises
For the Mohegans, the century following “first contact” with European colonizers resulted in a loss of 90 percent of their population and land. Documents from the time show that tribal leaders tried to gain sovereignty, basically saying, “we want to be left alone. We’re very happy that you’re here but we want to live our own lives,” Malerba paraphrased.
The tribe even won one case against the colony of Connecticut, only to have it overturned on an appeal.
In the intervening years, the United States entered into, then reneged on, a number of treaties with Native American people, said Malerba, who serves on the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee of the Federal Indian Health Service, Justice Department’s Tribal Nations Leadership Council, Tribal Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Health, and Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee.
She cited the Snyder Act of 1921, which authorized funding for health services for American Indians; the 1928 Meriam Report, which found failings by the federal government in regards to the health, education and financial stability of tribes; and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, of which the goal was to give more self-governance to Native Americans.
