Record Crowd At Indian Day

SPRINGFIELD – The Indian “motocycle” brand dates back 115 years to the company’s founding here in 1901. Dana Faucher can connect the dots on history’s timeless back much earlier – centuries, in fact, to the 1600s – when talking about his 1936 Indian Chief that he’s named “Mammausu.” He was happy to relate the tale Sunday at the annual Indian Day celebration at the Springfield Museums.

Faucher, who lives in Thompson, CT and works as a maintenance supervisor for Table Talk Pies, bought the Chief out of Uxbridge, MA in 2004 and got it on the road in 2009. “It took me five years to straighten out all the parts that were screwed up and rusted as well as find the other parts that were missing,” he said. “I built it as a daily driver.”

It was during those five time-consuming years that his wife accused him of having a mistress in the motorcycle. That got him thinking and investigating, and he found an expert on Native American languages who recalled the 1643 book “A Key Into the Language of America” written by Rhode Island founder Roger Williams. In it, was the word “mammausu,” which means adulterer. His bike had a name!

Among the many red, black and blue Indians on the show ground, Faucher’s Chief stood out with its two-tone rust and yellow/orange paint job. “Original color scheme. There’s no way to know the original color,” he said.

The Chief was one of more than 50 vintage Indians on display. “It’s been great this year. We’ve had a record number (of entries),” said Guy McLain, director of history at the Springfield Museums, before handing out awards in a ceremony that included a tribute to late Indian restorer George Yarocki of Torrington, CT by protege Tim Raindle.

Attending Indian Day for the first time was Tom Parker, a silversmith from Great Barrington, MA who rode in on his 1937 Indian Scout. “It’s like Mecca. It’s a pilgrimage,’ Parker said upon first setting eyes on the show ground.

The bike was originally acquired by Parker’s uncle, Douglas Thompson of Avon, CT, and was a basket case. Thompson starting gathering parts needed for restoration but turned the bike over to Parker in 2011. With the help of Yarocki (who died in May) and Raindle, the project took two years to complete.

Despite the heat, Indian Day attracted so many entrants and spectators that the museum is now looking to maybe alter the layout of the event that is staged on a lawn adjacent to the main parking lot. “It’s building each year. We’re building a great tradition,” said McLain. “We’re talking about how to expand it. We definitely have room to grow. We’re reaching capacity now (on the lawn).”

Here are some other pictures from Indian Day: