Fielding, Fidelia A. H., 1827-1908

Fidelia Ann Hoscott Smith Fielding (1827–July 18, 1908), also known as Dji'ts Bud dnaca ("Flying Bird"), was the daughter of Bartholomew Valentine Smith (c. 1811–1843) and Sarah A. Wyyougs (1804–1868), and granddaughter of Martha Shantup Uncas (1761–1859).

Fielding married Mohegan mariner William H. Fielding (1811–1843), and they lived in one of the last "tribe houses," a reservation-era log cabin dwelling. She was known to be an independent-minded woman who was well-versed in tribal traditions, and who continued to speak the traditional Mohegan Pequot language during her elder years. She kept four diaries in the language, which later became vital sources for reconstructing the syntax of Mohegan Pequot and related Algonquian languages. She was regarded as a respected elder woman or nanu who sought to preserve the Mohegan Pequot language and culture.

Fidelia Hoscott Fielding died on July 18, 1908 in Montville, and was buried at the Ancient Burial Grounds of the Mohegans at Fort Shantok State Park in Montville, Connecticut. A memorial marker was placed there to honor her, at a ceremony with an estimated 1,000 people in attendance on May 24, 1936. Credited with being an instrumental influence in recording and preserving the language, in 1994 she was posthumously inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame under the category Education and Preservation.