Harris’ talk, “We’re All Part of This Story,” was hosted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence for Quinnipiac’s ongoing Critical Conversation Speaker Series. Harris also shared a fireside chat with Jennifer Rawlings, JD ’15, tribal affairs director for the Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights, and answered questions from the audience.

Harris’ timely discussion dovetailed with the meaningful programming offered by Quinnipiac’s Indigenous Student Union this year, including Quinnipiac’s inaugural Intertribal Powwow coming to the Mount Carmel Campus on Sunday, April 13.

The Powwow, “Dancing in the Shadow of Sleeping Giant,” is presented by the Indigenous Student Union with support from Quinnipiac's College of Arts and Sciences, the Indigeneity Initiative, Office of Inclusive Excellence and the Albert Schweitzer Institute.

Contributions from Connecticut Humanities and the Mohegan Tribe will help the Powwow bring the Quinnipiac community and the greater area the opportunity to celebrate Indigenous culture and traditions of many of Connecticut’s recognized tribes. Indigenous Quinnipiac people once lived in present-day Hamden, Connecticut, on land which included Sleeping Giant State Park and Quinnipiac University.

On April 7, Julia Giblin, director and professor of anthropology, welcomed the large audience of Bobcats filling the auditorium on the Mount Carmel Campus to hear from Harris. Giblin also explained that land acknowledgment is a custom rooted in many indigenous traditions.

“Today, it can be used by native peoples to sustain their connection to and sense of belonging to ancestral homelands, particularly when they’re not on those homelands," said Giblin. "And by non-natives, from individuals to institutions like universities, to recognize the original stewards of the land where people currently live and work."

The day’s Critical Conversation provided an opportunity to deeply consider continuous, respectful, long-term relationship-building, said Giblin.

“This is also something the Indigenous Student Union and the Indigeneity Initiative have been working on for the last six years or so. How do we go beyond just a statement of saying who the Quinnipiac people are and really build relationships with the federal- and state-recognized tribes that are thriving in the state?” said Giblin. “Having vice chairwoman Sarah Harris here today, a leader of one of the tribal sovereign nations of Connecticut is a big step for us as a Quinnipiac community.”

Now serving her second four-year term on the Mohegan Tribal Council, Harris previously represented Native American tribes, tribal entities and tribal organizations as an attorney in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, she left private practice to serve as special assistant to the Solicitor of the Department of Interior. Harris worked closely with the Department of Justice to defend agency determinations for Tribal Nations and advanced proactive litigation for Tribal Nations. In 2013, Harris received a Presidential appointment to the role of the chief of staff to the assistant secretary - Indian Affairs. She supported and pursued policies that respect and support Tribal sovereignty, restore tribal homelands and strengthen Tribal communities.

At Quinnipiac, Harris shared her personal story in helping the Mohegan Tribe to finally claim the archival collection of their ancestor, Samson Occom, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Harris is a direct descendant of Occom’s mother, Sarah.

Occom rose to become an 18th-century scholar and Presbyterian minister, a remarkable achievement for his time. At the urging of a former teacher, Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, Occom traveled to England to raise money to launch a school for Native Americans. While he was incredibly successful in his efforts, upon his return, Occom was devasted to find that Wheelock had instead founded a school for white students, Dartmouth College.

In the first 200 years of its existence, the university graduated just 12 Native students, said Harris. It was not until 1970 that then-President John Kenney revived its founding commitment to provide education for Native Americans.

“Since that time, the school has graduated thousands of Native students. They’ve gone out to all areas, across all disciplines. They’re doing the very thing Occom had hoped eventually would happen,” said Harris.

In 2000, Harris became the first female Mohegan to graduate from Dartmouth. She remembers her time at the school as a “mixed experience” of being grateful for friends and relationships while also recognizing her ancestor, its founder, was barely acknowledged. Harris recalled how her father, a former Mohegan Tribe chairman, had met with leadership on behalf of the tribe to request greater acknowledgment of Occom, to no avail.

Years later, in 2020, when Harris became a member of the university’s Native American Visiting Committee, she spearheaded an effort that led to the transfer of Occom’s letters, journals, sermons and other texts to Tribal leaders. The collection includes Occom’s personal bible with his name written in Mohegan, English and Hebrew.

“That’s the first time that we know of that we have Mohegan language in written form,” said Harris. “We believe that every object is imbued with the spirit of their creator. This was Occom coming back home.”

The historic transfer took place in 2022 during an outdoor ceremony on the only remaining Mohegan land held by the tribe since time immemorial, in Uncasville, Connecticut. Harris still recalls a statement made by the university president at the ceremony, “…no one can change the past, but the future is ours to build.”

“I think such real truth, especially when it’s hard, is really the birthplace of meaningful change,” said Harris.

Two years later, Harris was asked to speak at the university’s inauguration of its new president.

“I basically told the story that I just told you today,” said Harris. “That Dartmouth has come a long way, that we need to acknowledge these truths, that we’ve acknowledged them and now we can talk about all the amazing work that’s happened since then with the thousands of students that continue to carry on Occom’s legacy.”

Harris said today when the country seems to be changing so quickly, it’s important to be reminded of the potential of taking action.

“It’s important that we all continue to participate, move forward and with courage and conviction, keep pushing,” Harris said. “I just wanted to share that story with all of you today, because I think that the work we all do everyday matters, and the choices we make matter, and how we continue to live our lives matter. It may not be tomorrow, it might not be in a week, but I did see change in the 25 years since I graduated.”