Aquinnah - Indian Pow-wow at Gay Head Cliffs and Lighthouse

We took the launch into Edgartown where we boarded a bus to Aquinnah where the local Indian tribe was hosting a pow-wow. The Wampanoag tribe has a small reservation near the Gay Head Cliffs and Gay Head Lighthouse, At one time the Wampanoags lived in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Today, the two major tribal bands live in Cape Cod and on Martha's Vineyard. There has been a significant amount of inter-racial marriage between the Indians and the Black population of Martha's Vineyard. The pow-wow was very similar to those we have observed in Kansas. The meal we had was a bit different. We had smoke mussels, squash and rice. I don't think the Plains Indians ate many smoked mussels. For dessert we had some "Indian pudding" which we think was a warm mixture of pumpkin and cornmeal. It was thick and sweet.

Wampanoug Girl