Cheryll Toney Holley

Cheryll Toney Holley (also published as Cheryl T. Holley) is a historian, genealogist, Indigenous leader and public servant. She is the elected Sonksq (female chief) of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band and an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society. Her work spans community leadership, academic research, cultural preservation and historical justice initiatives.

Early life and education Holley earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with Phi Alpha Theta honors from Worcester State University (formerly Worcester State College).

Career

Tribal and community leadership Holley has served as Sonksq (chief) of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band since 2013. In this role, she provides spiritual guidance, community leadership and advocacy for tribal sovereignty and cultural revitalization.

She is a founding member and Clerk of the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation, overseeing program design, grant writing and strategic planning. From 2001 to 2020, Holley directed the Hassanamisco Indian Museum, leading exhibitions, outreach and education programs until renovations began. She also served as Genealogy Chair of the Nipmuc Nation from 2000 to 2014, where she reviewed lineage applications and trained community members in Nipmuc history and genealogy.

At Brown University, she has served as a Visiting Scholar in Slavery and Justice (2024–present) and Mellon Visiting Fellow (2022–2023) at the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. In these roles, she supports the *Reimagining New England Histories* program, fostering collaboration between academic institutions and Indigenous and Black communities and serving on the exhibit and K–12 Curriculum Committees.

Holley also founded and operates PastTense Historic Research, a business dedicated to uncovering and sharing the histories of Indigenous and African-descended peoples of New England and New York. She maintains the *For All My Relations* genealogy blog and digital archives, and frequently lectures at libraries, universities, and museums across the region.