Printer Friendly Version - A Native American's Exhibit

Fox-Running shares his vast collection of Native American artifacts through his Dawnland Native American Exhibit at the Dudley Farm Museum, where he also shares his knowledge of the area's Native American people and their ability to thrive here for thousands of years. Visit him at the free exhibit each Tuesday or Thursday (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) or Saturday (9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) through mid-October.

Gordon Brainerd is his Christian name, but to the Bear Clan of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council of the Algonquian Confederacy, he is Fox-Running, Medicine Chief.

Fox-Running was given his name because of his penchant for "running around, talking to people" about this area's indigenous Native American culture, he says. He can trace his roots back to the Iroquois and Algonquian people.

In 2006, Fox-Running approached non-profit Dudley Farm Museum in North Guilford, of which he is a participating member, about starting up a permanent museum to share the many indigenous people's artifacts he's discovered from this very area. As a medicine chief, Fox-Running had also performed a blessing ceremony for the barn, shortly after it was raised.

His request to set up an exhibit was embraced by the Dudley Farm Museum board. The resulting Dawnland Native American Exhibit, located in the second floor of the big yellow Dudley Barn, now permanently houses his vast collection, as well as other educational tools and visuals. Fox-Running also serves as the exhibit's curator. He invites interested individuals and groups to visit him there, learn about the culture, and ask any questions they may have about the indigenous people or the items on display.

The display features examples of ceremonial and everyday items used by the indigenous people, as well as Fox-Running's vast collection of arrowheads, spearheads, tomahawk heads, tools, and more. He's reclaimed hundreds, if not thousands, of artifacts; some 10,000 years old (including granite tomahawk heads).

He once thought to give his finds to an established museum, but "I didn't want it to get stuck in a box and put on a shelf. It's part of my culture's ancestry," explains Fox-Running. "I want to get it all documented and on display so, when I'm gone, somebody else can make good use of it. Otherwise, it's lost."

To gather his archeological finds, Fox-Running says, "I do a lot of research of locations, by going back into Colonial records, and then I'll go to the land owner and ask permission to do an archeological dig."

In this way, he's found articles left behind by area tribes including Quinnipiac (New Haven), Totoket (North Branford/Branford), and Menunkatuck (Guilford/North Guilford).

"If I didn't do it, it probably would be lost," he says, noting most who find an arrowhead will likely keep it as a curiosity, but never learn more about the incredible human beings who engineered it.

In addition to offering the exhibit as a way to share his knowledge of the Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and the western end of Long Island confederacy of Native Americans thriving here pre-contact; Fox-Running often gives talks to interested area groups as well as making classroom visits. He may arrive in buckskin regalia and share arrowheads, spearheads, and other finds.

"If I don't tell people, who will?" asks this Branford resident. "I want people to see, and to know and to learn what my ancestors did for survival."

Also known as a medicine Man, Fox-Running is a "spiritualist," one of many types of medicine men. He completed a vision quest to meet his spirit guide on the road to becoming a spiritual leader.

"We believe in a creator, but our way of belief is different. We say the Creator put us on this earth as stewards of the land."

In August 2011, Fox-Running blessed and oversaw the reburial of human remains of indigenous bones unearthed in Branford after Tropical Storm Irene stripped away a section of Linden Avenue shoreline. The bones made headlines, as did the reburial ceremony.

Fox-Running's heritage also includes French, Canadian, and English bloodlines. He's a member of a storied Connecticut and Stony Creek family, the Brainerds. As one of nine children, Fox-Running always knew of his Native American ancestry, but was discouraged from discussing it.

"We were told never to talk about it in public for fear of harassment. I didn't, for many years."

About 20 years ago, Fox-Running truly embraced his background, encouraged by anthropologist and Mohegan Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon, who passed away in 2005 at age 106. He met her while seeking more information about his Native American archeological finds.

"I gleaned a lot of information from her about her people. She always told me, you're a Native."

The Dawnland Native American Exhibit is at the Dudley Barn at Dudley Farm Museum, 2351 Durham Road, North Guilford. The free exhibit is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., mid-May through mid-October, or by appointment. Call 203-481-6533 or 203-457-0770 to schedule an appointment. For more information about Dudley Farm Museum programs and events, visit www.dudleyfarm.com.