Chief Sachem Silverstar

Chief Sachem Silverstar
1881 - 1955

As this blog is named in his memory, we thought it most appropriate to tell you about Silverstar.
Atwood I. Williams, known as Grand Chief Sachem Silverstar (or Silver-Star, as he is named in some accounts) was born in 1881.  In the 1930s he was the leader of both the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Indian Tribe of North Stonington, CT and the Mashantucket Western Pequot Tribe of Ledyard, CT.

Silverstar was very proud of his Native American heritage.  He held public Powwows to help educate non-Natives in the ways and beliefs of his people and of other tribes.  Silverstar also visited schools frequently to speak to children about Native American culture.

Charles "Bud" Thompson, who co-founded the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum with his wife, Nancy, was a second grader in Rhode Island when his teacher invited Chief Sachem Silverstar to speak to the class.  Silverstar arrived wearing the traditional attire of the Pequots and a full feather headdress.  He asked the children to sit in a circle on the floor, then he explained how life is viewed in Native American culture.  Silverstar told the children that everything on earth is connected in one all-encompassing circle.  The circle includes not only living beings but inanimate objects, such as mountains, rivers - even the air we breathe.  Everyone and everything in the circle is equally important, and if one does harm to one part of the circle the entire circle is affected.



Silverstar went on to say that The Creator made each of us a unique individual and gave to each of us a unique talent.  Our job is to find that talent within ourselves and use it to make a positive contribution to the world and to the circle of which each of us is a part.


Bud Thompson never saw Silverstar again, but the words Silverstar spoke in that second grade classroom have remained with Bud throughout his life.  They set Bud on his life path, the path led to the creation of the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum.


Even when MKIM was just a dream, Bud always knew that he wanted to honor Chief Sachem Silverstar of the Pequot Nation and the inspiration he gave to Bud more than 70 years ago.  Keeping in mind Silverstar's words, Bud dedicated the Museum in 1990 to "furthering an understanding of native peoples and their harmonious relationship with the earth."  As the dedication certificate hanging in the Museum's lobby says, "Who knows the timelessness and power of inspired words?".


Before Bud Thompson dedicated  the Museum to Silverstar,  he wanted to have the permission of Silverstar's descendants.  Finding how to contact the family proved to be difficult.  After many attempts Bud arrived home one evening to find a note on the kitchen table from his son, Darryl.  Darryl had also been looking for Silverstar's family and succeeded in finding them.  The note Darryl left had a name and phone number, and ended with the words "Call him today."


Bud contacted the Williams family, who were quite honored  and pleased with the idea of an Indian Museum dedicated to the memory of Chief Sachem Silverstar.  Silverstar's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren came up from Connecticut for the dedication.  In the Museum lobby we have a picture of the Williams family in traditional Pequot attire, standing at the edge of the Medicine Woods with Bud and Nancy Thompson.