Laserfiche WebLink
ti <br /> make their way back to the ocean. <br /> The Wampanoags have depended on the annual run of the herring <br /> for food, fertilizer and the spiritual connection with the "Great Spirit". This <br /> phenomenon will be described in detail as one of the exhibits to be FA <br /> E <br /> developed. <br /> The Wampanoag Museum <br /> The Wampanoag Museum was deigned and built by Mashpee <br /> Wampanoags. The building and the land was the home of George and <br /> Mabel Avant who lived and raised their family there. After their deaths, the <br /> property was donated to the Town of Mashpee by Violet Avant Peters, the <br /> daughter of George and Mabel. When the museum was opened in 1974 it <br /> was considered one of the finest Indian museums in New England.-During <br /> the period since the museum opened, the character of the Town of <br /> Mashpee changed considerably and the Wampanoags no longer bad <br /> control of the museum. A good deal of animosity existed which put the <br /> operation of the museum in jeopardy. In recent years attitudes have <br /> changed and town officials have looked for ways to return control of the <br /> museum to the Wampanoags. In 1995 at a town meeting, the town voted <br /> unanimously to execute a 99 year lease of the museum to the Mashpee <br /> Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council. The Tribal Council is in the planning <br /> stage for renovating and expanding the museum. i <br /> The museum will be one of the main attractions to visitors to <br /> Mashpee. It will exhibit artifacts, documents and arts and craft of the <br /> Wampanoag people. <br /> "Twelve Acres" <br /> This site will be the location of a traditional Wampanoag village. There <br /> will be Wetus and other structures from the 17th century period. <br /> Interpreters will be dressed in clothing of that period and will demonstrate <br /> how Wampanoags lived during that period. The interpreters will rely on <br /> past, and ongoing research to insure authenticity. This exhibit is an <br /> extension of the Wampanoag Indian Museum. , <br /> Old Indian Meeting House <br /> This building is located about one and one half miles down river from <br /> the museum. The Wampanoag people have a great sentimental <br /> attachment to this building because of its age, and because it sits in the <br /> center of the Indian Burial Grounds where our ancestors are buried. The <br /> building was built in 1684 on Briants Neck, near Santuit Pond. Wampanoag <br /> preachers preached there and maintained the missionaries zeal to convert <br /> the Wampanoags to Christianity. The Wampanoags flirted with the notions << <br /> set forth by the Congregationalists and later found the Society for the <br />