Buckingham Palace recently announced that Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by HRH, the Duke of Edinburgh, has graciously agreed to unveil the memorial sculpture for a young Mohegan chieftain (Sachem) Mohamet Weyonomon who died in 1763. The service and unveiling will take place on Wednesday 22 November 2006.

The sculpture, made from a granite boulder, will be sited at the centre of the grass in the south churchyard of Southwark Cathedral, where the ashes of members of the congregation who have died are interred. Although Mohamet died in the City of London foreigners could not be buried there and so he was buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of Southwark Cathedral.

Carved by Peter Randall Page, who specialises in sculpting natural rocks, respecting their shape and form, the sculpture has been developed in response by Mohegan tribal leaders for a suitable memorial to the chieftain. A granite boulder from the tribal reserve was chosen as it is the tribal custom to name a boulder after a chieftain who dies.

The unveiling will take place in the presence of the present tribal Chairman, Bruce Two Dogs Bozsum, and others from the tribe. It will be a lasting statement concerning the early settlement of North America and the relationships and responsibilities that flow from that.

More details and press arrangements to follow.

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