> A report from the Acknowledgement branch of the BIA, dated Aug 30, 1991,
> lists:
> Wamponoag Tribal Council of Gay Head, MA
>
> as being acknowledged through 25 CFR 83 (i.e. the BIA's process) on
> April 11, 1987.
>
> It also lists the:
> Nipmuc Tribal Council of MA
> as submitting their documentation in 1984, receving an OD (obvious deficiency)
> letter in 1985, response to OD letter in 1987, and receiving a 2nd OD letter
> from the BIA in 1988.
>
> Also listed is:
> Mashpee Wamponoag, MA
> with their documentation submitted 8/16/1990, and an OD letter received
> on 7/30/1991.
>
> Can any people on the east coast explain if and how any of these 3
> groups are related? Thanks.
The Wampanoags are the Native American Indians who inhabit southeastern
Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands (Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket).
The community at Gay Head (on Martha's Vineyard) is politically separate
from that at Mashpee (on the Cape), in the sense that each pursues its
own strategies for dealing with the federal goverment, though in other
ways, the two communities are really one. Both have fought and lost in
federal land suits. The Gay Head "traditionalists" litigated all the way
to the Supreme Court to challenge an "agreement" made between Washington
and the "progressives" in the early 1980's. The suit was dismissed as
"moot" when the "agreement" became a congressionally-approved
"settlement" of all Gay Head claims. The Mashpee were even less
successful in court. Their claims were never able to make it past the
Court of Appeals. After much debate in the community, a petition to the
BIA was initiated, but has yet to be accepted, as Danny's information
shows.
The Nipmuc people inhabit the east-central portion of Massachusetts
(near the current city of Worcester). A portion of that community is
currently involved in a petition for federal recognition.
The Nipmuc and Wampanoag, together with the Narragansett (in what is
now called Rhode Island), were allies in what is known as "King
Philip's War" (1675-1676). "King Philip" was the colonist's name for
Metacom, Wampanoag sachem who led the effort to oust the white
settlers from New England. (Unwilling to follow Metacom were members
of the Mohegans, Pequots, Niantics, Sakonnets, and Massachusets. The
Iroquois played an unhelpful role to Metacom, as well.)
-- Peter d'Errico phone: 413-545-2003 Legal Studies Department fax: 413-545-1640 University of Massachusetts/Amherst 01003 dErrico@titan.ucc.umass.edu