In appreciation to the Great Spirit and our ancestors, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) preserves, promotes, and protects culturally significant sites within the ancestral lands of the Mashantucket Western Pequot Tribe as well as the grounds identified in the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1983.
Established in 1990 through an Act of Congress, the THPO assists the Tribe in better understanding tribal, federal, and state cultural resources management and historic preservation policy, recognizing cultural resource considerations with particular attention to the mission statements of the Tribe and its Historical and Cultural Preservation Committee (HCPC).
Directed by the U.S. Department of Interior National Parks Service, the Tribal Preservation Program administered through the THPO preserves, promotes, and protects culturally significant sites to “honor tribal sovereignty while working within federal preservation authority…”. The THPO is responsible for administering the functions of a Historic Preservation Officer concerning tribal lands. The THPO ensures program activities reflect the knowledge and participation of Tribal Elders, cultural bearers, and spiritual leaders, archaeologists, historians, and other preservation professionals. The THPO protects significant places and practices based on an understanding of the unique cultural and spiritual values of tribal nations as expressions of tribal sovereignty, and serves as the tribe’s Repatriation Officer; working to ensure tribal ancestors are accorded proper respect in death as they enjoyed in life.