Religion Baha'i Faith Name Stephanie Fielding | ||
Other names Morning Fire; Stephanie "Morning Fire" Mugford Fielding Ethnicity Mohegan Tribal Council of Elders Occupation Linguist, teacher, writer, editor, graphic artist and radio announcer Known for Work in resurrecting the Mohegan language Relatives Great-great-great-aunt, Fidelia Fielding Alma mater University of Connecticut, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
Board member of Endangered Language Fund | ||
Stephanie "Morning Fire" Fielding is known for her work in linguistics, especially for her work in resurrecting the Mohegan language.
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Biography and career
A member of the Tribal Council of Elders, she lives on the Mohegan reservation in southeastern Connecticut, in Uncasville. Fielding holds a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics and anthropology from the University of Connecticut, as well as a Master of Science in linguistics from MIT. She often translates English into Mohegan for speakers at Mohegan traditional ceremonies. She was the first student to graduate from a two-year Masters program at MIT "for members of indigenous communities whose languages are dead or dying." Her Master's thesis, The Phonology of Mohegan-Pequot, includes diary excerpts written in Mohegan from her relative Fidelia Fielding, the last fluent speaker of the Mohegan language. "Most of Fielding's work at M.I.T. has focused on creating a kind of linguistic algorithm that will permit her to take many of the accepted proto-Algonquian words and generate an authentic Mohegan vocabulary." In 2006, Stephanie Fielding published A Modern Mohegan Dictionary. She also created the online Mohegan Language Project, a central part of her efforts to keep her ancestral language alive. Of this project, Fielding states that “the goal is fluency,” and offers links to a Mohegan-English dictionary, phrase book, pronunciation guide, exercises, and an audio option.
She has worked "as a teacher, writer, editor, graphic artist and radio announcer. She has also served on the board of directors of educational institutions, media outlets, non-profit organizations, and religious organizations."
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“In order for a language to survive and resurrect,” she said, “it needs people talking it, and for people to talk it, there has to be a society that works on it.”