The Wampanoag are the Native people of present-day southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the islands, and two of their communities, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), hold federal recognition today.
Who are the Wampanoag, and where is their homeland?
The Wampanoag Nation once included dozens of communities across present-day southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)). That territory included Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Wampanoag communities traditionally moved with the seasons, living inland during the colder months and moving closer to the shore in spring and summer to plant crops and fish. Disease and colonization after European contact reduced the population sharply, and only a handful of organized communities remain visible today (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head).
This page covers the two federally recognized Wampanoag tribes. It does not describe every Wampanoag community or family history in the region.
Which Wampanoag tribes are federally recognized today?
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, based in Mashpee, Massachusetts, gained federal recognition in 2007 (Federal Register). The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), based on Martha’s Vineyard, gained federal recognition by an act of Congress in 1987 and later recovered about 485 acres of ancestral land, including the Gay Head Cliffs (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)).
Other Wampanoag communities exist without federal recognition. This page does not cover their individual status or history.
What really happened at the 1621 harvest gathering?
In 1621, Wampanoag people and English colonists at Plymouth shared a harvest gathering. That event was later mythologized as the “First Thanksgiving,” and the real story is more complicated than the popular myth (Smithsonian NMAI). Wampanoag leaders had their own strategic reasons for dealing with the colonists, and their help was followed by generations of land loss and broken agreements, not a lasting partnership (Smithsonian NMAI).
This section corrects one popular myth about one event. It does not cover the full history of Wampanoag and English relations in the 1600s, which our U.S. history section covers from other angles.
Is the Wampanoag language still spoken?
Yes. Wôpanâak had no fluent first-language speakers for more than 150 years until the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project began rebuilding it from historical written records. Linguist Jessie Little Doe Baird started the project, and it now works with the Mashpee, Aquinnah, Assonet and Herring Pond Wampanoag communities to teach the language to a new generation through classes and community programs (Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project).
Fluency levels differ across the participating communities. This page does not have current speaker counts.
Where to learn more
The Wampanoag are part of the wider Native American history and culture section. For symbols shared across many Native nations, see Native American symbols.
Sources
- Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Wampanoag History
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Timeline
- Federal Register. Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgment of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council
- Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth
- Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project. About