Chappaquiddick

We are the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Tribe. Our ancestors inhabited Chappaquiddick Island, Cape Pogue and Muskeget Island for thousands of years, well before the United States was formed and Massachusetts became a state. Between 1692 and 1870, our tribe filed numerous petitions to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the State of Massachusetts to address various issues and concerns regarding encroachment and land disputes. They also sent a petition to King George of Great Britain in 1772. In 1788, before the Federal Indian Non-intercourse Act (of 1790) was passed to provide protection for Indian people, Chappaquiddick Island was divided between the settlers and the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag. Our people received only one-fifth of the island, not the best soil, and were designated two reservations, the Cleared Lands Reservation on North Neck and the Woodlands Reservation. In 1828, the reservation land lots were assigned to tribal families at their request. With the passing of the Massachusetts Enfranchisement Act of 1869, the reservation lands were allotted to Chappaquiddick Wampanoag individuals and they were absorbed by the town of Edgartown.

Today, Chappaquiddick people live on Martha’s Vineyard Island, in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and throughout the United States. It is Important to remember that we are still here. We are current representations of our ancestors’ values and beliefs. We are working to keep alive the legacy of our Chappaquiddick ancestors while making our own contributions to our tribe and the larger global community. We deeply believe in the necessity to share our history with our youth, so they have the knowledge, tools and commitment to ensure we thrive in the future. We believe in the cycle of life. That coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success. To act upon these beliefs, every year since 1995, the Chappaquiddick Tribe has convened for its annual gathering at the Chappaquiddick Indian Burial Ground to honor our ancestors and rich history.

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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A complaint by a number of the Chappaquiddick Indians regarding the encroachments by the English onto Indian land
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick, Christiantown, Deep Bottom, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Category
Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A request by Paine Mayhew, William Hunt, and John Sumner for the Court to revisit and accept their previously submitted account of expenses
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Culture & Society, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty, Arts & Abstract Ideas
Summary
A complaint by James Robbins, John Joel, Benjamin Natick, and others of the Chappaquiddick Tribe to the Committee for Managing Indian Affairs in Dukes County seeking relieve from and restitution for trespass by non-Natives on Indian land
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A complaint by Ben Edick, James Robbins, John Joel, and others of the Chappaquiddick Tribe seeking relieve from and restitution for trespass by non-Natives on Indian land
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Culture & Society, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty, Arts & Abstract Ideas
Summary
A request from John Pease, Joseph Huxford, and others seeking confirmation to the titles of lands purchased under dubious legal circumstances, and the General Court's response
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Education, Religion, & Missionary Efforts, Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Culture & Society, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty, Arts & Abstract Ideas
Summary
A request of Samuel Cognehew, Benjamin Natick, and others on behalf of the Chappaquiddick Tribe for the construction of a meeting house to be financed from the funds due to them, and the General Court's response
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Education, Religion, & Missionary Efforts, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
An answer by Joel Joel, Benjamin Natak, Benjamin Natak, Jr., and others of the Chappaquiddick Tribe in their opposition to a request by the Proprietors of Chappaquiddick Island for confirmation of their title to land
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A request of John Norton, agent to the Proprietors of Chappaquiddick, that the General Court act upon a petition from the previous year relating to the confirmation of title for lands purchased from the Indians
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A request of Joel Joel, Benjamin Natick, John Joel, Sr., and other Chappaquiddick Indians seeking relief from the encroachment of their non-Native neighbors in Edgartown
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Community
Native Northeast Research Collaborative, Chappaquiddick
Category
Work, Poverty, & Economy, Geography, Land, & the Environment, Politics, Power, & Sovereignty
Summary
A complaint by James Robbins, John Joel, Mark Kurdoody, Sr., and others of the Chappaquiddick Tribe seeking relieve from and restitution for trespass by non-Natives on Indian land