Wampanoag of Gay Head

For millennia, the Gay Head Wampanoag people inhabited Martha's Vineyard, and throughout the last four centuries, they persistently strove to retain their ancestral lands and maintain their tribal autonomy.

From the outset, they shrewdly devised strategies to outmaneuver the English colonists within their own legal frameworks. Ultimately, despite numerous significant obstacles, they successfully reacquired their territory.

Approximately three thousand Wampanoag individuals resided on the island, which they referred to as Noepe, when the inaugural permanent English settler, Thomas Mayhew, arrived in 1641 with the express intention of converting the indigenous population to Christianity. Mayhew guided his Congregationalist congregation from Watertown, Massachusetts, to the island. By some means, the island eventually acquired the moniker of a smaller, neighboring isle, Martha's Vineyard.

Mayhew and his followers commenced the process of dispossessing the Indigenous people of their land. The conversion of the natives to Christianity was envisioned to institute a feudalistic structure, governed by Mayhew and his successors for ensuing generations.

Over centuries, the Indigenous populace challenged property deeds, initiated legal proceedings against claimants, and navigated the political landscape. They even orchestrated a significant occupation protest during the eighteenth century.

An Exquisite and Radiant Feature

The Indigenous people's settlement of Aquinnah became recognized by the English as Gay Head, named after the striking cliffs that ascended one hundred feet above the ocean's expanse. These geological formations are composed of various colored clays, including red, yellow, blue, indigo, black, and white. As historian John Warner Barber noted in his 1841 account, 'to those on board a vessel sailing near the shore, particularly after a rainfall, and when the sun illuminates it, it presents a beautiful and brilliant spectacle, hence the designation Gay Head.'

It was Mayhew's son, Thomas, who initially achieved success in converting the natives. His educational background for a missionary role remains somewhat unclear. Mayhew Jr., alongside another missionary named John Eliot, secured financial backing for their endeavors from the British Isles via 'The New England Company for the Propagation of the Gospel,' an organization established in 1649.

Enlightened Indigenous Peoples

Mayhew Jr. and Eliot converted the natives by offering promises of immunity from illness, security against conflict, and everlasting salvation. They transformed Aquinnah into a ‘praying town,' one of fourteen Christian Indigenous communities established by the Puritans during the seventeenth century.

To establish Christian institutions, Mayhew Jr. initiated the creation of educational facilities for training instructors and evangelists. Peter Folger, the great-grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, served as one of Mayhew's educators. They imparted the English language to the Indigenous children and instilled in them English cultural values. By enlisting the support of Indigenous leaders for these new religious centers, learning institutions, and judicial systems, they could rigorously enforce Christian moral standards.

Subsequently, accounts of the Praying Indigenous peoples of Martha's Vineyard, who offered thanks before partaking in meals, circulated throughout North America and Europe.

Mayhew Jr.'s mission did not achieve complete success. The Wampanoag people managed to retain many of their ancestral customs and beliefs. Later on, European evangelists expressed dismay at the democratic and spirited worship services conducted by the Wampanoag population. They were particularly perturbed by the equal standing granted to women in these gatherings.

Tragically, Thomas Mayhew, Jr., perished at the age of thirty-five during a transatlantic voyage to England in 1657. According to numerous reports, he genuinely desired to assist the Indigenous people. However, his father appeared more focused on establishing and presiding over a feudal colony, employing religion as an instrument for social regulation.

'The foundational element of political authority was religious doctrine,' observed historian Thomas Dresser. Mayhew Sr. assumed the role of both the legislative and spiritual head of Martha's Vineyard. While he formally acknowledged the sachems as leaders, it is highly probable that he privately believed he controlled the ultimate decision-making.

Governor for Life

In 1671, King Charles II officially designated Thomas Mayhew, Sr., as the ‘Lifetime Governor of the Vineyard Indians, granting him the authority to acquire their property.' Mayhew and his English settlers proceeded to systematically manipulate the Indigenous people into relinquishing their land through sales. For successive generations, Mayhew's missionary descendants managed the affairs of the Indigenous population on Martha's Vineyard as English settlements expanded. The Province of Massachusetts solidified the subordinate status of the Indigenous people by appointing guardians to oversee their affairs, and their religious congregations also fell under English supervision.

In 1687, one of the Christian leaders among the Indigenous people sold Gay Head and the Elizabeth Islands to Thomas Donegan, who was then the governor of New York. Donegan subsequently leased the land to new English colonists, a development that incensed the Indigenous inhabitants.

It appears the English may have imparted their legal knowledge too effectively. The Indigenous population initiated legal action, challenging the validity of the deed. Although their initial case was unsuccessful, they remained resolute. The Wampanoags consistently submitted petitions to the provincial government, voicing grievances regarding the appointed guardians and asserting claims to their ancestral lands. On occasion, these petitions proved successful.

The assurance provided by Thomas Mayhew, Jr., that Christianity would shield the Indigenous people from disease was swiftly invalidated. Outbreaks of smallpox significantly diminished the Wampanoag populace, and land acquisition by colonists further reduced their territories. By 1747, their numbers had dwindled to 112 individuals. Only three Indigenous communities persisted on Martha's Vineyard: Aquinnah (also known as Gay Head), Chilmark, and Christiantown.

Stabilization of Fortunes

The circumstances for the Wampanoags saw a moderate improvement in the middle of the eighteenth century as their population began to rebound. It increased from 165 individuals in 1765 to 203 in 1786, and further rose to 276 by 1790.

Furthermore, they commenced achieving success in safeguarding their land from the exploitative practices of the European settlers. Zachariah Howwaswee, a Wampanoag minister, engaged in a tenacious, twenty-year legal battle to nullify a land deed that two Indigenous individuals had illicitly sold to the English.

Howwaswee was a dedicated community advocate and an inspiring leader who possessed a profound understanding of the English judicial system.

During the mid-eighteenth century, two Wampanoag individuals, Elisha and Israel Amos, engaged in acquiring Indigenous land by utilizing funds borrowed from English sources. Subsequently, they sold or leased this land to English colonists, a practice that contravened both existing statutes and Wampanoag traditions. Zachariah confronted them in court for two decades—and emerged victorious. The strategy of educating the Indigenous people in the intricacies of English courts had ultimately backfired on the colonists. This pattern of events would repeat itself.

Zachariah Howwaswee, Jr., assumed the mantle of his father's advocacy. In 1775, the English appointed guardians bestowed several hundred acres of Wampanoag territory upon a descendant of the Mayhew lineage, Zachariah Mayhew, as remuneration for his oversight of the Christian congregations. Mayhew subsequently leased portions of this land to colonists and cultivated some of it himself in 1779.

The Indigenous population reacted with considerable anger to this appropriation. Howwaswee, mirroring his father's actions, took decisive steps to address the situation. Howwaswee, Jr., served as a minister, delivering sermons in the Wampanoag language at the Congregational Church. He devised an ingenious, dual-pronged strategy to reclaim the land, once again involving the legal system.

Reclaiming Indigenous Territories

Howwaswee extended an offer to several 'industrious attorneys' residing on the island, promising them leasing privileges for the land contingent upon their assistance in litigating against Zachariah Mayhew in court. Concurrently, he initiated a campaign of land occupation.

The residents of Gay Head dismantled his mile-long fence. Mayhew subsequently reconstructed it. They proceeded to demolish it once more. When Mayhew's tenant attempted to drive his livestock to the designated grazing areas, the Indigenous people obstructed his passage. They also removed cattle that were already present. Subsequently, they erected an Indigenous dwelling on the property, and an Indigenous family took up residence. A directive was posted stipulating that no outsider was permitted to keep even a single pig on the land or to establish any form of enclosure. Mayhew's tenants were expressly forbidden from setting foot within Aquinnah.

Howwaswee further intensified pressure on Mayhew to vacate the premises through an alternative approach. He enlisted the support of several legal practitioners, promising them leasehold rights should they successfully recover the property.

By 1789, Mayhew relinquished his claim to the land. The Supreme Judicial Court rendered a verdict in favor of Howwaswee. Mayhew was subsequently prohibited from both preaching and even visiting their community.

However, the conclusion of this narrative was not entirely favorable for the Wampanoags. Howwaswee occupied the house erected on the disputed territory and appropriated one-third of it for his personal use. He and another individual named Mayhew, Simon, secured the majority of the grazing rights for the remaining portion. Fifty-two Wampanoag individuals submitted a petition to the Massachusetts General Court seeking redress, and their plea was granted. The individuals who had improperly claimed the land were subsequently removed.

By the early 1800s, only three Indigenous communities remained: Aquinnah, Christiantown, and Chappaquiddick. Given their status as the most populous and best-organized group, the Aquinnah Wampanoags possessed the greatest potential for preserving their land and their distinct identity.

Establishing a Legal Precedent

The Howwaswees established a crucial precedent that would continue to be emulated well into the twentieth century. The Wampanoags would effectively utilize the established governmental structures as leverage to reclaim their territories and reassert their tribal sovereignty. Although their numbers experienced a decline once more during the nineteenth century, they tenaciously clung to their cultural identity.

Then, in 1972, the tribe formally established the Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head, Inc. The primary objectives of this council were to foster self-determination and to guarantee the preservation and continuity of Wampanoag heritage and customs. An additional crucial aim was to secure federal recognition for the tribe and to advocate for the restitution of tribal lands to the Wampanoag people.

On April 10, 1987, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head officially attained federal recognition. That same year, the federal government resolved the Wampanoags' claims concerning 485 acres of tribal lands. This settlement encompassed 160 acres of privately held land and 325 acres of common territory, which included prominent sites such as Gay Head Cliffs, Herring Creek, and Lobsterville.

Currently, the tribe is exploring the possibility of transforming its community center into a casino situated on its tribal lands.

This historical account was updated in 2023. The image of Herring Creek is attributed to William Waterway, who created it through personal work and licensed it under CC BY-SA 3.0, accessible via https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18457262