Nelson Drue Simons (also known as Wabum Annug (Morning Star) and Chief Morning Star and Nelson D. Simon) (1885-1953) was a

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (formerly Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.) is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee, Massachusetts, Mashpee on ...

chief from 1916 to 1928 and government official who was also the first known Native American graduate of

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

in Boston.

Early life and education at Carisle

Nelson Drue Simons was born on November 23, 1885Draft Registration 1917-18 accessible on familysearch.com to Isaac Simon, a seaman, whaler, and farmer and Ella Frances Mingo Simon of

Mashpee, Massachusetts Mashpee ( ) is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mas ...

, and Nelson had at least five siblings (including Edward, Lily, Zepheniah, Ellen, and Eva). In addition to his Wampanoag heritage, Simons was also of at least partial

Pequot The Pequot ( ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut includin ...

ancestry and was purportedly a descendant of

Sassacus :'' Sassacus is also a genus of jumping spiders.'' Sassacus (Massachusett: '' Sassakusu'', "fierce") ( – June 1637) was a Pequot ''sachem'' who was born near present-day Groton, Connecticut. He became grand sachem after his father, Tatobem, w ...

. From 1896 to 1904 he attended the Mashpee Public Schools.Mills at 56 After his father's death in 1905 Nelson Simons and his siblings attended

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

in Pennsylvania. Simons attended Carlisle from 1909 to 1914 and was president of Carlisle YMCA, a Lieutenant of the school's Company B, and attended the Second Presbyterian Church. and published articles in the ''Carlisle Arrow''. Simons provided written testimony to Congress supporting the YMCA at Carlisle. At Carlisle Simons trained in plumbing and pipe fitting."Nelson Simons Student File"
at Carlisle Industrial Indian School

Leadership at Mashpee, Suffolk Law School and career

After graduation, Simons returned to

and succeeded his maternal great-uncle Watson F. Hammond as town clerk in 1915 and as tribal chief the upon his uncle's death the following year. From 1914 to at least 1917 he reported his occupation as "

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...

ing," but by 1920 Simons was working as a plumber. He also had a small farm with a cow and requested a Carlisle student to work for him during the summer of 1915. Simons was leader of the Mashpee tribe from approximately 1916 through the 1920s and helped lead a cultural revival there working closely with Eben Quippish, another tribal leader, and Simons re-dedicated the Old Indian Meeting House in 1922. Simons also served as Mashpee's tax collector, and he was appointed postmaster after petitioning for U.S. Mail service in Mashpee. He matriculated at

in Boston in 1921 and graduated in 1925. At Suffolk he published an article in the 1921 ''Suffolk Register'' entitled, "Possibilities of Spare Moments." Simons was also a poet and published at least one poem in 1922 about Mashpee. Simon's sister Lillian, also was a published poet. As a tribal leader in 1928, Simons helped unite the Mashpee, Herring Pond, and Gay Head communities with their first joint

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity fo ...

. Simons purportedly left Mashpee around 1929, and his cousin, Lorenzo Tandy Hammond, became the tribal leader, and for the rest of his life Simons lived around

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

working various jobs, including as a chaffeur, carpenter and janitor until his death in 1953.Mills at 56-57 He was never married according to the 1950 U.S. Census.

References

{{reflist Suffolk University Law School alumni Mashpee Wampanoag people Carlisle Indian Industrial School alumni People from Mashpee, Massachusetts American people of Pequot descent