NOKAS + ICOMEFROMHER + This exhibit portrays regional Native Americans—the Wampanoag & other Indian tibal peoples. Wampanoag means “People of the First Light”. ‘The Wampanoag Indians of southeastern New England have lived here for over 12,000 years. The ancestral homeland of the Wampanoag is shown on the map below in the region outlined by the white line and labeled Pokanoket (the old name for Wampanoag). Their territory included all of Cape Cod and the islands (Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and others). Between the years 1612-1619 as many as 90 percent of the proud and fiercly independent Wampanoag people died as a result of European-brought diseases. Prior to this, as many as 12,000-25,000 Wampanoag lived in as many as 300 villages, united in a confederacy of Algonquian-speaking people and interrelated by blood, marriage or adoption. The leader of the Wampanoag was called the Massasoit (“Great Leader”) who greeted the Pilgrims in 1621. Local villages also had female leaders called a sonksq (“woman who rules”). ‘The Indian way of life was characterized by a harmonious relationship with the rhythms of nature. The land was sacred. We say aftke (Mother Earth). The Indian believed the land and all its bounties were given by the Creator to safeguard and worship in exchange for providing everything needed to live and be happy. The spiritual, moral, emotional and physical worlds interacted in a complex way. The stones, wood, water, plants & trees, animals, fish and people were viewed as one interconnected living world, each ‘with a beginning and a uurpose.. perros his Exhibit of the Aquidneck Indian Council focuses onthe centrality of women in local traditional Indian culture, The place of women in the world of nninnuog (The Human Beings) is recounted in this ancient Algonquian legend told by our Kechisquaog (Female Elders)— The Sky Queen [Ages ago everybody lived in the sky and down below was all water. And one day the Sky Chief pulled| lup the great tree of life, and when he did, he made a great hole in the sky and called the Sky Queen to Jcome and look. And when she looked, he gave her a push and down, down she fell and all the little lwater animals said, “Look! A star is falling. It’s the Sky Queen. Where will we put her ?”. Two great swans came together and caught her on their wings and said, “We can’t hold her forever, where will we| put her?” Then the old turtle came up from the bottom of the sea and said, “You can put her on my back, but I must have dirt.” So all the little water animals went way to the bottom of the sea and [brought up a handful of dirt, put it on the turtles’ back until it grew. It grew to the East and to the West jand to the North and to the South, and the old turtle grew with it. And by and by that turtle was hholding up the whole earth. Now sometimes he gets tired holding up the whole earth and gives himself a shake. People think| {they're having an earthquake, but all the Indian children know that it’s just the turtle tired from holding| ‘up the earth. ? Wellby and by they put the Sky Queen down on the earth and after awhile she had two twin sons. One very, very good son and one that was very, very bad. Everything the good son did the evil- minded son did something to counteract it. The good-minded son made a beautiful sun-shiny day, The evil-minded son made hail, rain, storms, thunder, and hurricanes. Then the good-minded son| made a beautiful stream to flow down the hill side, and the evil-minded son filled it with snakes, lizards and spiders. ‘Then the good-minded son made the beautiful bushes that would burst forth| flowers, fruits and berries. He made the trees and the grasses. And the evil-minded son made poison| ivy and briars to grow all around. Well, that poor old lady became so tired trying to separate the good from the evil, that by and by| Ishe died. And they put her in the ground. After a while from her head grew the pumpkins, from her toes grew the potatoes, from her body grew squashes, beans and corn, from her fingers grew the green| beans. Ever since that _day, Mother _Earth _has__been _feeding her children.‘The earliest European record we know of wrote this about us— is the finest looking tribe, and the handsomest in their costumes, that we have! found in our voyage. They exceeded us in size and they are of a very fairl ‘complexion... Their women are of the same form and beauty [as the men], very} {graceful of fine countenances and pleasing appearance in manners and modesty; they! wear no clothing except a deer skin, ornamented like those worn by the men; some} ‘wear very rich lynx skins upon their arms, and various ornaments upon their heads,! icomposed of braids of hair, which also hang down upon their breasts on each side.1 JOthers wear different ornaments, such as the women of Egypt and Syria use. The older! land married People, both men and women, weer many omaments in their ears,! thanging down in the oriental manner. 1 UVoyages of Giovanni da Vervazzano (June, 1524 ? )] t Now, contrary to many misconceptions about the First Americans, traditional Indian culture placed women at the center of the life-giving and life-sustaining force. Her relationship to her children, her family, her tribe, her destiny formed the core connectedness among the physical world, the moral and spiritual worlds. Indian culture was based on moving in harmony with natural laws and responding to her rhythms. For example, during the monthly Moon Cycle, women were relieved of daily obligations and isolated themselves in separate dwellings. Occasionally, certain women returned to village life with life -altering visions which could become incorporated into the history & culture of her tribe. In traditional village life, all women were mothers & sisters to the husband and all her village relations. The strength, beauty and spirituality of Indian women is attested [in part] by the artifacts of the material culture left behind when The Tears Drowned the Sun in the 1600s. aa In this display you will see a selection of baskets and other natural artifacts crafted or discovered in The Creator's Garden (many reconstructed). A few artifacts on display were selected from other Algonquian-speaking or Iroquoian-speaking locations to show the contrast across tribal territories. > This event is funded partially by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode Island Foundation and The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.’ We thank them for their generosity. We thank George Estes (Thunder Trumpeter) and Claudette Estes (Gentle Feather) of the Aquidneck Indian Council, and Frank Lampert (Busy Beaver), proprietor, Frank's Trading Post, Stonington, CT for loaning some of the artifacts. The drawings are reprinted from The New England Indians, © 1996 by C. Keith Wilbur, with permission from ‘The Globe Pequot Press, Old Saybrook, Connecticut, 800-243-0495, www.globe-pequot.com. ‘The map is from Bruce G. Trigger (Volume Editor), Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15 (Northeast), © 1978. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution Page 160) The Indian language words are from the ancient tongues of Natick-Massachusett_ & Narragansett, with borrowings from Ojibway, as recorded in Understanding Algonquian Indian Words (New England), Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council, © 1996, and A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. | (First Edition), Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council © 1998. The authors are Strong Woman ® Moondancer.