A visit by two citizens of the Mohegan Tribal Nation brought remembrance, ancestral connections and a continuing pursuit of justice together at Southwark Cathedral.

Southwark Cathedral recently welcomed Jason LaVigne, Mohegan Tribal Historian, and Robert Justice, Historical and Cultural Researcher, who brought a traditional basket of offerings to honour Mohegan sachem Mahomet Weyonomon.

Jason and Robert are citizens of the Mohegan Tribal Nation, based in present-day Uncasville, Connecticut, in the United States. Both are direct descendants of Sachem Uncas, the Mohegan leader who forged an alliance with the English in the early seventeenth century.

Their visit offered an opportunity to remember Weyonomon's journey to London and to reflect on the living relationship between his legacy, the Mohegan people and their ancestral lands.

Remembering a leader's pursuit of justice

Mahomet Weyonomon was a Mohegan sachem, or chief, and a great-grandson of Uncas. In 1735, he travelled to England to petition King George II to restore Mohegan lands taken by colonists.

His petition called on the Crown to honour its longstanding alliance with the Mohegan people, challenging colonial land dispossession through diplomacy. He died of smallpox in London in 1736 before receiving a royal audience.

For Jason and Robert, remembering Weyonomon means recognising both the purpose of his journey and its continuing significance.

“Visiting Southwark Cathedral to honour him was a way for Mohegan people today to connect our ancestor with his home and to remember the reason why he went, to defend the Mohegan people’s land and future,” they explained.

Weyonomon's memorial at the Cathedral, carved from a stone brought from Mohegan, provides a tangible expression of that enduring connection.

Offerings from the Mohegan community

The visitors brought a traditional Mohegan-made woodsplint basket containing offerings from their community.

These included tobacco grown on ancestral Mohegan lands, which has ceremonial importance to the Mohegan people, particularly in blessings. The basket also contained a piece of wampum fashioned from quahog shells. Associated with diplomacy in Mohegan history and culture, the wampum recalled Weyonomon's mission to defend Mohegan land rights and his ancestral connections.

For Robert, the visit also continued a family tradition. His great-uncle, Bruce “Two Dogs” Bozsum, was a foundational member of the Mohegan delegation that visited the Cathedral in 2006.

Connecting histories across the Atlantic

Jason and Robert were in London for the launch of Indigenous Histories at Westminster Abbey: Memorials of the British Dominions and Colonial America, a book they co-authored.

Among the histories explored is that of Samson Occom, a prominent Mohegan minister and educator who travelled to London in 1766 to raise funds for a school intended to educate Native American young people, later Dartmouth College.

Through his preaching and the relationships he developed, Occom continued efforts to advance Indigenous interests and resist encroachment on Mohegan lands. During his time in London, he toured Westminster Abbey, became its first documented Indigenous visitor, and recorded his observations of its memorials.

The book is available through Westminster Abbey's online shop.

A living connection

At the heart of Jason and Robert's visit was a message about the Mohegan people today: Weyonomon's story remains part of a living community.

“The people whose future Weyonomon sought to protect are actively maintaining Mohegan relationships with his memory and connections to Mohegan ancestral lands,” they said.

His pursuit of justice forms part of British history as well as Mohegan history. By honouring him at Southwark Cathedral, Jason and Robert brought the present into conversation with the past, continuing a relationship across generations and across the Atlantic.