Caption on back of photograph reads: Five eastern Indians, members of related Algonkian tribes, have made their contributions to the annals of history. These people all lived in different eras but their works have been interesting additions to the scant material surviving on the Indians of Long Island and southern New England. Samson Occum the Mohegan minister, preached a sermon at the execution of Moses Paul, an Indian convicted of murder on September 9, 1772 in Bethany, Connecticut. It was such a moving sermon that it was printed in numerous editions. Thirty five years after Reverend Occum's death, it was translated into Welsh and published in Caernarson, Wales. Occum also published a collection of Indian hymns and poems on April 8, 1774 and these were very well recieved. In 1845, Thomas Commuck, a Narragansett Indian of Brothertown, Wisconsin, published his book, "Indian Melodies" the favorite hymns of the Christian Indians of New England and their Wisconsin descendants. Nathan J. Cuffee, the blind father of Reverend Aaron Cuffee was a member of the Eastville Band of the Sag Harbor Montauks. In 1903, together with Lydia Jocelyn, wife of a missionary to the Sioux, they published "Lords of the Soil." This book which was very well written and received, now graces the shelves of libraries all over Long Island. It is a mixture of both truth and fiction but gives an interesting picture of early life among the Montauks and their relations with the early English settlers. This is an extremely rare photo of Nathan J. Cuffee and because few people have ever seen it, it should be a welcome addition to the collections of Long Island libraries. Lois Marie Hunter (Princess Nowedonah), Shinnecock and the granddaughter of Wickham Cuffee published in 1950, "The Shinnecock Indians." This was followed by a book written by Harriet Crippen Brown (Princess Star Leaf), now Mrs. Lance Gumbs. Her book is titled, "We Hang in the Balance." The Wampanoag of Massachusetts, a tribe related to the Mohegan, Narragansett, Shinnecock and Montauk also have an author among them. He is Russell Herbert Gardner, Great Moose of the Mattakeeset Band of Wampanoags of South Hanson, Massachusetts. He is the official historian of the Wampanoag tribe and the Federated Eastern Indian League. One of his articles called "The Most Fascinating Discovery of My Life," appeared in April 1966 in "Yankee Magazine." Nathan J. Cuffee was the only member of his tribe to author a book and this was a worthy contribution by that well known Montauk family, the Cuffee's. His mother was Louisa Cotton Cuffee, Narragansett and his father was Jason Cuffee a Montauk.
