Herren Project honors Native American Heritage Month by celebrating our own Herbert “Half Crow” Boyd.
November is Native American Heritage Month. Native American Heritage Month is observed in November to call attention to the culture, traditions, and achievements of the nation’s original inhabitants and their descendants. The official designation of November as National Native American Heritage Month was signed into law in 1990 by President George W. Bush.
This month, we honored Native American ancestry and traditions and celebrated our very own Recovery Coach, Herbert “Half Crow” Boyd Jr.
Herb joined our Herren Project team meeting on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to share his life experiences and culture. Herb is a member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation located in Ledyard, CT. The Mashantucket Pequot is the oldest reservation in the United States, founded in 1666. The Pequots became the first native tribe to survive a massacre at the hands of European immigrants in what would become the United States we know today. The history of the Pequots is filled with redemption and restoration. Today, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation owns and operates one of the largest and most successful resort casinos, Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Herb serves on the Elders Council, and earlier this month, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Elders officially elected Herb “Half Crow” Boyd to the position of Vice Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Elders Council. He will be formally sworn into his 3-year term of office on January 2, 2024.
Herb is very passionate about recovery and lives a life in recovery himself. In August 2023, Herb celebrated eight years of living, one day at a time. He believes his sobriety is a gift and works to give back to his tribe and local community every chance he gets. Herb works as a Recovery Coach for Herren Project, coaching our recovery scholarship recipients as they start their journey to recovery. He is also a Recovery Support Specialist with Tribal Behavioral Health. He is responsible for creating the Native American Recovery Group on the reservation while serving on the Health and Human Services Committee and Treatment Subcommittee of the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Policy Council (ADPC).
Herb shared about the fantastic Mashantucket Pequot Museum located on the reservation. The museum is a 308,000-square-foot complex consisting of permanent exhibits, the Mashantucket Gallery (a gallery for temporary exhibitions), classrooms, a 320-seat auditorium, a restaurant, a museum shop, and administrative offices. The Research Center houses collections, archives, and archaeology and conservation laboratories where ongoing work from the field is evaluated and studied. The mission of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center’s mission is to strengthen the Pequot culture to honor and serve their Tribal family and friends. Herb encourages those who want to learn more about the Mashantucket Pequots and their history to visit Mashantucket, CT.
Herren Project staff was honored to learn more about Herb’s journey, and we applaud his honorable efforts to combat substance use disorder for his tribal nation and all people in the area. We are grateful to have him as part of the Herren Project team and family.
