Portrait of Laughing Woman, a Pequot from southeastern Connecticut. She stands in the traditional home of her people, the land of the long tidal river, the Quinnehtukut (Connecticut), and appeals to the spirits of her ancestors that peace will come to pass for all peoples.
She is a descendant of Tamer Brashel, her great-grandmother, a full-blooded Pequot and the last of the bygone basketmakers of her tribe. Her people’s cry is still heard in the winds throughout the lands of the long river, “where,” says Laughing Woman, “grandfather sun still shines on ancient villages, ancient graves and golden paths, and where deer have led me to many sacred grounds.” Her appeal to the spirits is that they protect their quiet sleep.
Behind her is the rainbow, a sign of the unity of all peoples as one big family. Laughing Woman believes that by spreading joy and love to others, that hate in the world can be changed to understanding, and destruction and war can be diminished.
“My first discourse with her was by way of a long telephone conversation. As we spoke, I envisioned her standing by a river with her eyes closed. When we finally met several weeks later, she took me to an introspective place where she often went to commune with nature. On a large stone in this river is where she prayed, with occluded eyes, for the spirit of her people.”