Talk:Emma Fielding Baker

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 January 2019 and 8 May 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Spellman888. Peer reviewers: Shifonf.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 20:41, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Adding Photo to Existing Gallery on Page
Hello & happy 1 hour less sleep today! I've added a picture to the wiki page for Emma Fielding Baker and would like to place it into the gallery which another editor kindly created. How do I do that? The image is of the Mohegan chapel and right now it's located just under the picture of the young Emma Fielding Baker. Thank you!Spellman888 (talk) 19:33, 10 March 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review/ Feedback
Cydna: Wonderful choice in subject matter. Emmy Fielding Baker’s family sure is lucky that a caring person like you spent so much time and effort in helping to create a page they can be proud of. I can tell, you must have read hours to understand the complexities of tribal relationships and hierarchy.

Key Points:

The lead section does summarize the article’s key points that Emma was a Mohegan medicine woman and culture-bearer. I think it will be better when you move the information about her niece to the legacy section to ensure that the lead is about Emma and no one else.

The structure of the page is clear. The heading and subheadings include appropriate information about their subject and are in chronological order. I think the various aspects are balanced, but I do hope you find information about Emma’s childhood to fill the gap between birth and marriage. She got married at 26. That was a little on the older side for her time. I wonder what she was doing before she got married? I believe that your coverage is neutral and does not include any noticeable value judgments. The language is clear and concise without color and embellishment.

You have plenty of various, reliable, and academic resources. It’s good you found information in the local newspaper, the New Haven Register.

If I had a wish list for your page, I would make the following suggestions:

It would be great to be able to make Emma more of a flesh and blood person. Are any of her own writings or thoughts recorded anywhere? Is a speech, interview, commentary, or letter available?

Are there any third-party stories available that would reveal her to be human? Stories that reveal her hopes, desires, or disappointments. Did she have to deal with death, or was she ever forcibly removed off her reservation? Are you familiar with any laws that were enacted during her lifetime that impacted her family?

I would add Wiki Links or external web links to the following: Mohegan Green Corn Festival, Mohegan Congregational Church- if it still exists, “wigwam”, and Mohegan Pequot, Mohegan Sun Casino, National Museum of the American Indian (also, please add its location), maybe even Montville, Connecticut.

I’m so glad there are so many pictures. Maybe think about adding pictures of some of the above places, especially the festival. It sounds interesting and would add color to her page. I also wonder if there are pictures of any of her husband, children, or descendants? And, is there any information about her husband and their life together?

Hope you like some of these suggestions. I really enjoyed your page. It was my pleasure to review it. Shifonf (talk) 02:26, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

Emma Fielding Baker Review: 4-10-2019
Hi Cydna:

Emma Feilding Baker is a fascinating person. I love that there was so much information on a medicine woman who helped preserve and keep her cultural traditions in tact! Especially during such a tumultuous time in history for Natives preserving their culture!

-I love that you were able to add images to her page. The older pictures of Baker help make her more dynamic to the reader by allowing them to imagine her in various phases of her life.

-Adding her obituary also helps make her more personable to readers who can see her not just as a medicine woman but also as a wife, mother and grandmother.

-I like that you added the hyperlinks to Baker’s page, such has “Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame” “Uncasville” and many more! These links help bring context her life!

-I also like the wording that you added to help clarify her life and her legacy such as “posthumously awarded”, that is a great way to describe that awarded after her death!

-Your history page is amazing, you documented all of your revisions in such a clear and concise way! I am amazed at how much time and dedication you have put into improving her page!

You added such depth and new information about her life and your dedication to improving her page is inspiring. I thank you again for the advice on how to upload documents to my person’s article! Sincerely Kirstyn Kaprager (talk) 22:27, 10 April 2019 (UTC)kaprager

RTV Feedback
Cydna, your edits are absolutely fabulous. The pictures bring her to life. I love that you reached out as much as you did in these revisions. Even more than that, you've done an excellent job fleshing out details, citations, and links, with careful attention to language and context. Wonderful! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Raevan2011 (talk • contribs) 23:52, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

Important additions! 5/3/19
Hello. The following information was provided to me by the Archivist for the Mohegan Tribe, but I was unable to find sources confirming it. I feel it is important to Emma's legacy and would like to add it to her page but feel I cannot do so without citing the sources. Has anyone seen anything citable that would confirm these statements:

"Back in 1861, the State of Connecticut decided that the Mohegan Reservation, which was owned by all Mohegans, was to be broken up into individual plots, and distributed to separate Mohegan owners. They needed a list of those people who were Mohegan, who had the right to receive this land. Emma prepared a record of which people were related to whom; including listing those people who had joined the Brothertown movement; those who had sold their “Land Rights” back to the Tribe; and those who were NOT Mohegan, even though they claimed to be – in some cases these were people who had been renting Mohegan farms for several generations. This record, which still exists, was among those used by the State in their determination. The decision to break up the reservation was not enforced until 1872. And once the land was owned by individuals, that land could be taxed, and it could be sold by an individual without consent of the entire Tribe."

These ownership records mentioned above are entitled by the Archivist as "Emma Baker List of Mohegan Indians List furnished by Mrs. Emma Baker, May 19th 1861 From Connecticut State Library Learned Hebard Papers" but I could not find them in an internet search. The Archivist added the following footnote re the Learned Hebard Papers: "Donated to the state by Donald J. Warner, June 13, 1922. – they were sent to him by Edward W. Hebard of Santa Cruz, California, son of Learned Hebard, an overseer for the Mohegan Tribe."

There also is further evidence which I could not find in the following source: From 10/30/1989 Document of the “Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for the Proposed Finding against Federal Acknowledgement of the[sic] The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of the State of Connecticut. The Archivist read this source and added this in her papers: “In May of 1897, at what was described as a ‘regular meeting of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians,’ Emma F. Baker was elected president of an organization known as the Mohegan Indian League, League of Descendants of the Mohegan Indians. This organization was formed apparently for the purpose of pursuing certain tribal claims and had been collecting funds from group members for attorney’s fees since at least January of 1897."

Any clarification you can offer will greatly enhance Emma Fielding Baker's page.Spellman888 (talk) 16:47, 3 May 2019 (UTC)