Mashpee
MASHPEE
MASHPEE. The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which is located on Cape Cod, spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. The first known contact occurred in 1602, and by the 1650s the Mashpees were made a self-governing Christian Indian town and then an Indian district. In 1869–1870, Massachusetts converted Mashpee into a town and made its land alienable. However, the tribe continued to control the town until the 1970s. In 1976, the tribe filed suit in federal court to recover the land. The tribe lost because it was not federally recognized, but instead of discouraging tribal members, the ruling heightened their determination, and in 1990 they petitioned the Interior Department for recognition. The tribe's1,500 membersa wait a decision.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campisi, Jack. The Mashpee Indians: Tribe on Trial. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1991.
Conkey, Laura E., Ethel Boissevain, and Ives Goddard. "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Late Period." In Handbook of North American Indians. Edited by William C. Sturtevant et al. Vol. 15: Northeast, edited by Bruce G. Trigger. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
JackCampisi
See alsoTribes: Northeastern ; Wampanoag .