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Annual Indian Pow Wow
The Indian Pow Wow has been an annual Cape event for decades. The photo was taken in 1966. Earl Mills is still the tribal chief.

Prior to the 1800s, the Pow Wow was an event where chiefs discussed problems and participated in religious ceremonies. Later, the event expanded to include more tribal members. Today the annual Pow Wow includes the entire Wampanoag tribe, along with members of tribes from all over the country.

Visitors are invited to participate in this annual celebration of heritage, featuring dances and demonstrations in full Indian regalia, a group supper and old fashioned Cape Cod Clambake, arts and crafts, refreshments and more fun.

For additional information, call the Tribal Council at (508) 477-0208.

The Wampanoag Indians

For over 10,000 years, long before the Pilgrims landed in the "New World", the Nauset, or Cape Cod Indians, lived on these shores. The Mashpees of the Wampanoag tribe were part of this native clan. Aptly so, the name Wampanoag means People of the First Light (or Dawn).

Here, they lived most of the time along the Mashpee River Valley, where they planted, hunted, fished and gathered, taking only what they needed from the land to survive. As a means of thanksgiving, they celebrated the phases of the moon and the seasons of the sun.

In the summer, they built temporary shelters called wigwams near the river; as the colder seasons moved in, they moved inland to the more sheltered woods and valleys.

During the early 1600s, explorers, such as Samuel Champlain, encountered the Wampanoag people. Around 1614, Thomas Hunt, an English captain, kidnapped more than 25 members of the Wampanoag tribe and, later, sold them into slavery.

Full Indian regalia and dancing are part of the annual Pow Wow.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why, a few years later when the Pilgrims arrived, the Wampanoag people were more than a little wary of the strangers.

As in other parts of the country, the influx of settlers arriving in the New World dramatically impacted the Natives. Despite their helpfulness to the "foreigners," the Indians were driven from their original villages. By the 1640s, most Indian land had been taken by European settlers, and Mashpee became the haven for all Cape Cod Indians forced from their land.

After years of oppression "advanced" legislation in 1861 granted the Indians of Mashppe full citzenship; in 1870 the land was incorporated as a town.

Today, Wampanoags work continuously to preserve their culture and honor their heritage.

A visit to the Indian Meeting House and Old Indian Burial Ground is a terrific Cape detour. The Meeting House, built in 1684 on Santuit Pond, is the oldest church building on the Cape. It is now located on Route 28 in Mashpee and still used for worship, meetings and social activities. The Old Indian Burying Ground dates back to the late 1700s. Look for unique headstones, many carved with scenes and symbols, in this small memorial by the side of the road.