The author of a 238-year-old manuscript has been identified as a minister from the Mohegan Tribe, a finding by Yale University researchers that tribal members say provides insight into one of the most revered figures in their history. The document dated Dec. 24, 1776, gives the account of deathbed utterances from a young woman who had returned to Mohegan after some time away. Editors with the Yale Indian Papers Project concluded that the manuscript was written by Samson Occom, one of the first American Indians to be ordained as a Christian minister, The Day of New London reported. Occom is a central figure in the Mohegans’ cultural history as an ardent missionary who promoted Christianity across New England and upstate New York. ‘‘It’s a great discovery, a treasure,’’ said Faith Davison, a retired Mohegan archivist who serves on the Yale project’s board of advisers. ‘‘It’s a piece of Occom we didn’t know existed.’’ (AP)
New London, Conn.