Blending autobiography and history with traditional knowledge and ways of life, Medicine Trail presents a collage of events in Tantaquidgeon’s life. We see her childhood spent learning Mohegan ceremonies and healing methods, her Ivy League education and career in the white-male-dominated field of anthropology, and her travels to other Indian communities on behalf of her own tribe and as an employee of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Finally we see Tantaquidgeon’s return to her beloved Mohegan Hill, where she cofounded America’s oldest Indian-run museum, carrying on her life’s commitment to cultural continuance and the renewal of Indian nations.

GLADYS TANTAQUIDGEON (1899-2005) was a medicine woman, anthropologist, author, tribal council member, and elder based in Connecticut. As a young girl, she was selected by women elders for training in traditional pharmacology and culture. For years she preserved vital records and correspondence of tribal members; these proved integral to the Mohegan case for federeal recognition, which the Mohegan received in 1994.