The People - The Re-Monument

Charles Eagle Tail Babcock

Charles Eagle Tail Babcock is a citizen of the Mi’kmaq (Meeg-mah) tribe and descendant of its Bear Clan. The Mi’kmaq Bear Clan are keepers and defenders of tribal wisdom and traditions. Charles’ proud lineage also includes ancestral ties to the “People of the Small Point,” the Narragansett Indian Tribe who have inhabited Rhode Island for over 30,000 years.

The Mi’kmaq are a Northeastern Woodlands people who have occupied the lands south and east of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the Maritime Provinces, and other regions along the Atlantic Seaboard of Northeastern America for over 10,000 years. Upon first contact with the Indigenous peoples of the area, Europeans mistakenly believed that the term Mi’kmaq, which means “My Kin-friends," was their name rather than being a common greeting that they used. As a result, they came to be known as the Mi’kmaq. Their actual name for themselves is L’nu’k, which means “The People” or “People of the Same Tongue.” Among the peoples who inhabit their ancestral lands in the Northern Maine region, they are also known as Wabanaki or “People of the Dawnland.”

Eagle Tail is wearing regalia that represents his Bear Clan heritage and traditional attire worn by Northeastern Woodland peoples. His robe and the eagle feather bundles that he carries are indicators of his status as a Bear Clan knowledge keeper.

Charles Babcock is an enterprising graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A trained chef and pastry chef, he owns a private catering company and a custom baking business. He endeavors to preserve culture and keep tradition alive through preparation of dishes and baked goods that have been passed down through generations and sustain our connections to family and community. He is also a prolific dancer who has participated in powwows throughout Atlantic Canada and in states along the east coast from Maine to Virginia for nearly 20 years. “We pass down what we are taught,” Eagle Tail states. Therefore, it is important for him to represent Mi’kmaq and Indigenous culture to ensure that Native Americans are viewed holistically and that their societal concerns are acknowledged and addressed. “We are not just feathers and bead work and leather,” he adds. “We are professionals, parents, clan parents, and keepers of tradition. At the same time, we continue to fight against the long-term and often unacknowledged oppressive forces that plague our communities, such as ranking number one in poverty, lack of education, diabetes, domestic violence, and assaults by the police.” By exemplifying the ‘soul’ of Native peoples through his acts of cultural representation, Eagle Tail hopes to stimulate awareness and reinforce the traditional values and ways that have allowed the aboriginal peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands to remain alive and thriving today.