The Chief of the Nipmuc Nation and Hassanamisco Band of Nipmuc Indians recently retired. Per our constutution (and historic precedence), the retiring chief submitted the names of three individuals whom he felt could be his successor.  The Elders of the Nipmuc Nation choose our next chief from among those names.

Guess who?

Me!

At first I was resistant (please see my post from October 2012 here). But then, I thought about how disrespectful it would be to say “no.” Our Elders and Chief believe that I am the right person to lead our Nation. I also thought about the state our small Indian Nation is in and could I really desert my people at this time?

But I believe that to lead an entire people is an incredible responsibility. How can I possibly be capable of such a thing???

While I’ve had an incredible amount of support, I also have my detractors. Mainly those who wanted to be chief or have family members who they feel should be chief. And, of course, the tribal council has not been happy with the Elders’ outcome. Our last Strawberry Moon celebration was clouded by the negativity between the Elders and the council.

The official ceremony is on July 28th at the reservation. An old enemy of the Hassanamisco Band has already stated that he’s coming to claim “his” reservation at the pauwau, plus who knows what else will happen.

My hope is that we all vow to move forward together, that cooperation and communication will be our top priorities.  I ask that anyone reading this to pray for my people and their leadership.

Aquene,

Cher