Native Project

Native Peoples of Connecticut Documentary Project:

Matching Funding Needed!

The creators of the proposed documentary film, Native Peoples of Connecticut: Governance are respectfully requesting matching funds towards a Connecticut Humanities Implementation Grant which was awarded to the project in January, 2026. The Project Director is six-time Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker Karyl Evans. The Co-Producer is Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation Vice Chairwoman Brenda Geer. The fiscal sponsor for this project is the environmental non-profit: Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed, based in Stonington, Connecticut. The Project Team needs to raise $35,000 in matching funds to complete the 30-minute documentary.

The first in the short documentary series focuses on Governance. Tribal nations are inherently political. Their governance is informed by traditional knowledge and ancient values. Tribal governments play a vital role in the survivance of Native Peoples. Their inherent sovereignty not only protects the current generation but implementing thoughtful policies serve generations to come. This unique state to state relationship between tribal nations and the federal government and individual state governments is an important part of understanding Indigenous histories and lived contemporary realities. Themes to be explored in this 30-minute documentary include matriarchies, representative government, nation building, written constitutions, leadership, Indian status, and citizenship.

Please send matching fund donations by check to our Fiscal Sponsor (write “Native Peoples of CT” Project in the memo section of the check) to: The Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed, P. O. Box 116, Mystic, CT 06355.

Brenda Geer, Vice Chairwoman, Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and Karyl Evans, 6 Time Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker researching their documentary film project during archeological dig on the Eastern Pequot Reservation in North Stonington, CT.

Grants and Timeline:

Brenda Geer and Karyl Evans have been developing the Native Peoples of Connecticut documentary film project for over 6 years.

To date they have:

Received the 2026 Connecticut Humanities Implementation Grant to produce short doc Native Peoples of Connecticut: Governance.

Received a grant from The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund in March, 2026.

Received two Connecticut Humanities Planning Grants to develop the “Native Peoples of Connecticut” documentary project.

Received letters of support from each of the 5 state and federally recognized tribes in Connecticut: the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Mohegan Tribe, Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation.

Interviewed 15 tribal members - three from each tribe including the: Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Mohegan Tribe, Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation.

January 21, 2026 swearing in ceremony at the Connecticut State Capitol of Larry Pemberton Jr., the first Native American to be elected to the Connecticut General Assembly.

Tribute short documentary by Karyl Evans for the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 2019.

The story of Pequot Sisters Elizabeth George and Matt Langevin saving their reservation!

Team

Karyl Evans (Producer / Director) has been producing documentary films for over 30 years in Connecticut. Her other films include The History of African Americans in Connecticut, The History of Connecticut Cities, The Amistad Revolt, The African American Freedom Trail, and The History of New Haven among many others. Ms. Evans’ films have been broadcast primarily on public television and have garnered many regional and national awards. Karyl Evans also taught documentary filmmaking full-time for two years at Southern Connecticut State University. Karyl Evans has been a guest lecturer at Yale University and is a Yale Fellow.

Brenda Geer (Co-Producer) is the Vice-Chairwoman of Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation. Brenda is also Chairwoman of the Native American Heritage Advisory Council in Connecticut (NAHAC). Brenda has worked on Tribal Council for over thirty years and has strong relationships with members of all five tribes.

Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed Based in Stonington, CT is the Fiscal Sponsor of this project. The Alliance is a non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to collaborate across cultural, physical, generational, and academic boundaries to support the thriving of our waterways and the communities who depend on them. Leadership includes individuals from both the Eastern Pequot and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. Advisory Committee:

Advisory Committee: Native Scholars

The Advisory Committee has been selected with intention and assessment of their standing with the Native communities that are being worked with; honoring the primacy and necessity of well-founded relationships built on trust, reciprocity, and sharing power.

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation:

Joshua Carter is the Executive Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in Connecticut. Joshua is the liaison to his tribe and keeper of the tribe’s archives. Mr. Carter has an extensive knowledge of tribal history as well as the current culture programs and issues for the tribe today.

Mohegan Tribe:

Sharon Accomac Maynard has worked in the tribe's Cultural and Community Programs Department as manager and as a field and lab technician with the tribe's Archaeology Department. Sharon served three terms on the Mohegan Tribe's Council of Elders and served 12 years as the Tribal representative to the Connecticut State Native American Heritage Advisory Council. Sharon is the liaison to her tribe for the project’s varied requests.

Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation:

Brenda Wondering Spirit Geer is the Vice-Chairwoman of Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and Chair of the Native American Heritage Advisory Council in Connecticut (NAHAC). She is the Tribal Historic Preservation Liaison for her tribe.

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation:

Ruth Garby Torres is a Tribal Elder for the Schaghticoke Tribe. Ruth is the co-founder and member of the Schaghticoke Women’s Traditional Council since 2013. She writes and lectures widely about Indigenous issues. She was the impact fellow for the 2018 documentary, Dawnland.

Wunneanatsu Lamb Cason (Schaghticoke) is the Culture Keeper for the Schaghticoke Tribe. She has her BA Degree in History with a concentration in Native American Studies. Wunnea has her Teacher Certification in History and Social Studies for grade 6 through grade 12. Her educational company, Eastern Woodlands Education Consultant, LLC, designs Native American History & Cultural education programs.

Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation:

Shoran “Waupatukuay” Piper is the Clan Mother of the Golden Paugussett Tribe. She is also the Pipe Carrier, Medicine Women, and Spiritualist for her tribe. Shoran continues her family’s political acts of survivance which have been key to maintaining community ties across families and two reservations - one Colchester and one in Trumbull.

Institutional Humanities Scholar Advisors:

Chris Newell: (Passamaquoddy) is the Director of Native American Cultural Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He is the co-founder/director of education for the Akomawt Educational Initiative; a majority Native-owned educational consultancy based in Connecticut. He is a multi-award-winning museum professional and serves on the Board of Trustees for the New England Museum Association.

endawnis Spears (Diné/ Ojibwe/Chickasaw/Choctaw) is Co-Founder and Director of Programming & Outreach for the Akomawt Educational Initiative. She is also the co-director of the Upstander Academy consulting educators on how to teach genocide. Ms. Spears was the Tribal Community Member in Residence at Brown University (2021 - 2022). She worked for four years in marketing and development at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. endawnis earned her BA in anthropology at the University of Denver.

Sandy Grande (Quechua) is an Activist and a Professor of Political Science and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Connecticut. Her Ph.D. earned in 1997, is in Cultural Foundations of Education from Kent State University. She was awarded the Ford Foundation Senior Fellowship (2019-2020) for a project on Indigenous elders and aging. Her book, Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought was published in 2004.

Paul Grant-Costa is the Co-Director and Executive Editor of Native Northeast Research Collaborative/Yale Indian Papers Project. His Ph.D. is in American Studies with a Concentration on Native American Law, Literature, History, Culture and Community from Yale University (2008). His J.D. with a Concentration on International Law and Human Rights is from the University of CT (1989). Paul also has a Ph.D. in Linguistics.

Jason Mancini received his Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of Connecticut. His dissertation is titled: “Beyond Reservation: Indian Survivance in Southern New England and Eastern Long Island, 1731-1861”. He was the Executive Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and is Co-Founder of the Akomauwt Education Initiative. Currently he is the Executive Director of CT Humanities in Middletown, CT.

Andy Horowitz is the Connecticut State Historian and Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Connecticut. As a professor of history, Andy will be interviewed about the history of Native Peoples in the state of Connecticut.

Darlene Kascak (Schaghticoke) is the Education Director at the Institute for American Indian Studies Museum and Research Center in Washington, Connecticut. In her role as an educator, Darlene finds that the Connecticut public does not have a working knowledge of the state’s Indigenous people.

Future Themes in Documentary Series:

The intention of the producers is to continue to create short documentaries based on the themes that emerged during the course of the six years of development of this project. Some of the themes to be explored in future short documentaries in the series include:

Language and Culture Revitalization

Federal and State Recognition

Landways and Waterways - Food Sovereignty and Environmental Stewardship

Rebuilding Tribal Communities Today.

Contact information:

Karyl Evans Project Director “Native Peoples of Connecticut: Governance” documentary KarylEvansProductions.com karylevans@comcast.net 203 239-1799

Brenda Geer Co-Producer “Native Peoples of Connecticut: Governance” documentary brenda@alliancemrw.org 860 574-6351