Everett G. Weeden, Jr. (Tall Oak), 85, of Charlestown, RI, passed away Friday, February 11, 2022, at the Westerly Health Center. He was a documented descendant of the Mashantucket Pequot, Narragansett, and Wampanoag tribes. A retiree from the University of Rhode Island. Born in Providence, he was the son of the late Everett, Sr., and Bertha (Ramos) Weeden.
Everett, most lovingly known as Tall Oak a name given to him by his cousin Princess Redwing, attended the Rhode Island School of Design from 1955 to 1956. He was an educational consultant, affiliated with the Boston Children’s Museum, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, and Brown University. He was also affiliated with Tomaquag Museum since its inception in 1958 serving in the capacity of a staff member and a research consultant. Tall Oak also contributed to the Smithsonian exhibit dedicated to the “National Day of Mourning,” in 2020. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1957 to 1963.
Tall Oak was a charter member of the Charlestown Historical Society, a charter member of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum Research Center a member of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. and Rhode Island Historical Society. and He also served on the advisory board for the American Indian Friends Coalition.
Tall Oak is known across the Indian country as an ardent Indian Rights activist and one who sought to uplift the rights of Indigenous People across all borders. He was one of the driving forces behind the birth of “The National Day of Mourning,” at Plymouth Rock on Thanksgiving Day, 1970.
Tall Oak was instrumental in researching the descendants of ancestors who were captured and taken from the shores of southern New England to St. David’s Island in Bermuda. His in-depth research led to the “Reconnection Festival” inaugural celebration which took place in the early 2000s in St. David’s Island.
Always seeking to generate a more accurate and honest image of Indigenous people led to his participation in several videos including Kevin Costner’s, “500 Nations” production in 1994. Tall Oak also assisted with a documentary, “Mystic Voices” about the Pequot War in 2005
He is survived by his spouse, Patricia Turner Weeden, his children, Toni Weeden and Son in Law of the Heart, Jeffrey C. Wright, David Weenaatainnini Weeden and Daughter in Law of the Heart, Trish Keliinui and, Annawon Weeden, Sr.; grandchildren Nicole M. Isom, Christian A. Dove, NaKeesha A.Brown, Brian M. Weeden, Sassamin R. Weeden, Attaquin D. Weeden, Kendall N. Scott, Annawon Weeden, Jr, Tonay Gooday-Ervin, Kta’n and Seeqan Paul; great-grandchildren, Cheyenne-Autumn Isom, Darian, Naliyah and Nylah Dos Santos and Epenow Amos Peters Weeden; a son of the Heart, David Greendeer Caaco, a stepbrother, Stewart Brown, and close friends who he considered Brothers of the Heart, Jim Frasier, Gill Reed and Brian Myles.
Tall Oak is predeceased by sons Christopher Weeden and Enada Weeden and Great Grandson, Okemos Ryan Brown. Tall Oak is also predeceased by his sister, Diosa M. Summers.
