Crafty Moms Share: Native Americans of Cape Cod and Massachusetts

This summer while visiting my parents at Cape Cod, Steve, Hazel and I journeyed to the National Seashore Visitor's Center. It was the first time I took Hazel there and possibly Steve's first time as well. We watched the videos on how Cape Cod was formed and a bit of the history of Cape Cod. There is quite a bit of history. Then we went into the small exhibit room. In this room there was various exhibits about the people of the past on Cape Cod and of course included a Native American exhibit. I thought I took some pictures, but if I did they are lost. Part of the exhibit showed the structure of a wigwam and had other tools and parts of Native American life. But what struck me the most was the recordings of Native Americans and messages they have for all. One message was how it is important to know the history of the place you live. Knowing that history will enable you to understand the land and environment and preserve it as much as possible. I have been thinking about this ever since. It made me want to investigate the Native Americans of Cape Cod. After all so many things are named using Native American words like Nauset, Skaket, Namskaket, Mashpee, Cotuit, Hyannis, Sagamore and more. Even Massachusetts comes from Native Americans. In fact it is the tribe which lived in the Greater Boston area. (Source: The Wampanoags of Masspee)

Source

Looking at this map showing the tribes and names prior to 1620 and the Pilgrims there are many tribes and Native names. I also found this map that shows places Governor William Bradford mentioned around 1620 and what the Pilgrims knew. You will notice a huge difference. The Wampanoag Nation are the first people the Pilgrims met and the same Nation that helped them survive in Plymouth. However, the Nauset tribe is different than the Wampanoag tribe near Plymouth lead by Massasoit in 1620. They were all one group with similar ways, but yet had their own like each town in a state.

By User:IMeowbot (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What saddens me the most is that there is not much available (and especially for children) about the Nauset tribe or even the Massachusett tribe.There are books about the Wampanoags which I have shared throughout the years here and here and here. But this tribe is also put into the Algonquians which is even a larger group based on language and similarities. Again there is a lot on Algonquians out there as well. However little is out there on the Nauset tribe. I found in Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America by Michael G. Johnson (one of the prizes below which I will review on Wednesday) that the Nauset probably was not a unified tribe. They ate deer, bear, squirrel, fish, seafood, and gathered food as well as grew it. However the name Nauset is used throughout Cape Cod. It is a beach in Orleans (one I went to often as child), a lighthouse in Eastham, a school district for a portion of the Cape (Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, and Wellfleet). It is estimated there were about 1500-1600 members of the tribe prior to contact with the Europeans. In 1621 there were around 500 and still around this number during King Philip's War. There is not a whole lot more I have found about the Nauset people. Following the war people from other tribes joined the remaining Nauset people and eventually concentrated in Mashpee. (Source)

Statue of Iyannough By Kerowyn (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Another popular place in Cape Cod is Hyannis. In fact it is referred to as the capital of Cape Cod. It has a mall (indoor) and many stores and strip malls as well as one of the only hospitals on Cape Cod. It is named for a sachem of the Cummaquid tribe, Iyannough. Historical records show that he helped the Pilgrims and colonists including helping William Bradford find a lost boy. The colonists described him as personable, gentle, courteous and fair-conditioned. (Source) Mattacheese, the area where Iyannough lived is now called Yarmouth and in native tongue it means "old lands by the borders of water." (Source) Living in this area were the Pawkunnawkuts, Hokanums, and Cummaquids. (Source)

Plan of Mashpee 1785 By http://maps.bpl.org (Plan of Mashpee Uploaded by tm)
[CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

As more and more colonists came to the "New World" the settlers needed more land for houses and farms. They continued to grow and pushed the Native Americans out of their lands. The leaders of the colony realized that taking the land may lead to violence and war and tried to avoid that by establishing Mashpee as an Indian Plantation and placed it off-limits to new settlers. In 1648 there are documents that show Captain Myles Standish negotiated a deal with Paupmunnuck (who could not read, write or understand English) to purchase land that is now Santuit and Cotuit. He "bought" this land for two brass kettles and one bushel of Indian corn. (Source: The Wampanoags of Masspee) And so the land of the Indian Plantation began to befall white men's hands. In 1869 a committee decided it the time had come to remove the restrictions on the land. In 1870 the Massachusetts Legislature went ahead and incorporated Mashpee as a town and got rid of the restrictions of the sale of Indian land and divide common land and sell it at public auction. The common land was about 2,536 acres and sold for about $2.70 an acre. The Native Americans of Mashpee could not afford to buy much of the common land. The Mashpee Indians maintained political control over the town into the 1960s. By 1970 however the Indians were no longer the voting majority and more land and rights were taken away. In 1976 the Mashpee Tribe filed a case in federal district court claiming ownership of the land that had been taken illegally from them. They lost due to a technicality. They are still fighting for their land and for their rights to be recognized as by the federal government as a tribe. These Native Americans are still protecting their heritage and personally I hope they win.

The Mashpee Tribe has a museum as well as other historical buildings to visit. To me this is one of the best ways to learn about the people who lived on the land prior to us. I hope you will take the time to learn about the Natives who lived in your area and perhaps still live there!

The Avant House in Mashpee By Thomas Kelly (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Now I am going to see what I can find about the Massachusett tribe and hopefully teach Hazel a bit about the people prior to us. I hope to find some books, stories and museums to visit with her. These I always find to be the best ways to learn about a culture. I hope you will join us on Wednesday when I will do reviews of several of the books that are prizes in our giveaway below!