QUEENS Diary / Chief Among Them: After 14 Long Years, The Matinecocks Have a New Leader: [QUEENS Edition]
BY MERLE ENGLISH. STAFF WRITER. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]31 May 1998: G09.
We're not asking for much. Half of Long Island was all Matinecock. Why can't they give us back something?' - Chief
IN THE BASEMENT of Macedonia Church in Flushing on a recent Saturday, Samuel Boyd Stevens sat cross-legged on a rug facing about four dozen people seated in a semicircle.
Many in the gathering wore fringed leather tunics, beaded moccasins and other American Indian dress and jewelry. But Stevens stood out among them.
Wearing, over white dungarees, a silken white shirt with red, yellow and blue ribbons encircling the upper arms, he complemented the outfit with a choker fashioned from turquoise beads and animal teeth and claws, and a broad mother-of-pearl bracelet on one arm.
Rings on every finger except his thumbs were formed into lizard, lion, turtle and other animal designs. A white cape made of long beads and feathers attached to a headdress topped by what appeared to be a snake's head flowed out behind him onto the floor.
In his right arm Stevens cradled a staff topped by a turtle's shell and in his left a large eagle's feather.
Stevens was being ceremonially installed by members of his Matinecock tribe as their new leader, or sachem, Chief Little Fox. As his mission, he has promised to revive the culture of the Matinecocks - a group that once occupied large portions of Long Island and Queens - and win back some of the land that was taken from them.
The chieftainship of the tribe had been in dispute following the death in 1984 of John Williams (Chief Little Moose), who was then the Matinecock sachem. Oceola Townsend, of Kew Gardens, who Little Fox said is his cousin, had spoken for the tribe as its chief until the tribal council voted for Little Fox in October. In a response conveyed by his daughter, Pamela, Townsend said he wouldn't "dignify with any comment" Little Fox' promotion by the tribal council.
He was the only recognized Matinecock chief, Townsend said, and described Little Fox as "a sub-chief."
But Little Fox said Chief Little Moose once told him he had a vision that Little Fox would be chief after him.
"He left me as junior chief with his hand blessing on my head," Little Fox said. The event at Macedonia Church was to formalize his leadership.
The ceremony got under way with an American Indian prayer by Marjorie Paris, a Matinecock. Then Running Bear, shaman of the Ramapos of New Jersey, conducted a blessing ritual.
Dipping a feather into a bowl of water, Running Bear shook the droplets on Little Fox. He again shook the feather while intoning in Algonquian a prayer to the "Great Spirits of the West, East, North and South," and to "Mother Earth and Father Sky."
Taking up pinches of tobacco from a pouch on a rug laid out on the floor near Little Fox, Matinecocks and their guests offered prayers for his guidance and good wishes for his tenure as chief.
"I've come many miles to see this moment," said Chief Robert Cooper of the Montaukett tribe of Riverhead. "We know the Great Spirit is at work, because we are not gone. We are here, and we are here to stay."
That is the message Little Fox wants to send as he takes up his position.
"It's my time to use my power to get back what belongs to you," he told the Matinecocks. "My job is to try to help my people get back some of their land. Everything in this country today belongs to us, but we're not asking for much. Half of Long Island was all Matinecock. Why can't they give us back something?
"It's not about hate, it's about our future, to get something back for our people, because we are still here," Little Fox said, adding, "We got wiped out because they wanted the land. We forgive them for the mistake they made. I'm only going to stand for the future. My aim is to keep my culture alive, to keep our people off the street and away from drugs and breaking laws," he said.
Little Fox spoke with authority despite a lisp left over from nearly a lifetime of learning how to speak after he lost his voice and his hearing in a fall when he was an infant. He regained his voice at the age of 4, he said, when he awoke one night screaming. He'd dreamt that a giant spider had grabbed him by the neck.
The new Matinecock chief, 52, was born in East Harlem. He lives in Lindenhurst and works as a porter with the New York City Housing Authority. He trained as a junior chief under Chief Little Moose, according to Cheryl Brady, chairwoman of the Matinecock tribal council. Little Fox was named the "keeper and carrier of the sacred pipe," indicating that he is able to conduct all of the ceremonies, she said.
Little Fox is the only living member of the tribe to receive the sacred rites of chieftainship, Brady said, and his position as sachem is equivalent to that of a chief executive officer of a corporation. During the ceremony she presented to him certificates verifying his chieftainship.
"His goal is to keep the Matinecock name alive, keep the tribe united and teach the culture," she said. "We are celebrating his achievements of being elected to the highest position at such a young age and his many years of loyal service, dedication and commitment to the tribe."
As an indication of that commitment, Little Fox organizes and attends powwows and ceremonies, performs traditional dancing and makes American Indian jewelry.
"He's been at it ever since he's been a teenager," Brady said.
Members of the tribe, which numbers about 250 in Queens and on Long Island, "are starting to come back," Brady said. They are holding meetings at Macedonia until a traditional Long House, or meeting place, can be established.
Mandingo Oceola Tshaka, a spokesman for the tribe, said, "I hope that he {Little Fox} comes up with some positive ideas to bring us forward. We're hoping that by having a sachem, that will show that we're going forward, and it will be like a magnet for people who are laying back, waiting for something to happen.
"Now that we have a leader that we say is our leader," Tshaka said, "we're hoping that will attract others."
