As foliage falls and the weather cools, a call to celebration and remembrance beckons to the Narragansett Nation. The whistling wind says this is the season for tradition and celebrations that keep the Nation strong. The Great Swamp, Naming, and Harvest Thanksgiving ceremonies foster a sense of interdependence that has allowed the people to maintain […]
As the Museum Coordinator for the Wampanoag History Museum at the Aquinnah Cultural Center, I have the responsibility of making sure that the belongings in our collection are properly cared for. This work can be unglamorous, but it is a privilege. To ensure that the belongings in our collection are well taken care of for […]
When I set out to curate this collection of writing on “sovereignty,” I knew it was a mammoth to explore. Among original peoples of the Northeast, the word – the idea – is layered with centuries of entanglement between dispossession and self-determination, belonging and constraint. By its simplest meaning, sovereignty implies the authority or autonomy […]
In creating the cover of Motif’s Indigenous Peoples Month issue, artist and visual arts teacher Ella Mahoney took her inspiration from her birthplace, Aquinnah, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. “Every year, the members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe go to the cranberry bogs, and pick cranberries together,” she relates. “From that, I took images of the […]
We recently sat down with Brown/Trinity Rep’s MFA in Directing candidate Tara Moses. Although it was too late to include in our recent Indigenous Issue, the wide-ranging discussion included Moses’ thoughts on Indigenous directing and where that form can fit in modern theater. You can see an example Nov 9 and 10 at the Pell […]
Wanda Hopkins is a citizen of the Narragansett Indian Tribal Nation, mother of three adult children and grandmother of three. She has served in Tribal Government and has ministered at the Narragansett Indian Church for twenty-five years. She and her family participate in Indigenous cultural arts education, civic activism, and community service. Wanda is a […]
During Taquônk, Autumn, we reflect on the harvest of corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins while contemplating food sovereignty – the right to access healthy foods tied to culture and community. As a citizen of the Narragansett Nation, I emphasize the importance of having access to our homeland’s foods. Our ancestors thrived for thousands of years […]
The year is 1989, and I am perched on the floor of my grandparent’s parlor. Around the room, I am surrounded by an intergenerational assemblage of relatives and friends. A baby, the newest addition to the family, is passed from one adult to another, lovingly cooed over and adored by all. My gregarious grandmother, our […]
There are a lot of problems with being a Native American in Rhode Island. For one thing, there are buildings I can’t enter because my headdress keeps getting tangled up in ceiling fans. Okay, I don’t really wear a headdress, but maybe I should. That way, people would realize that I am a proud member […]
ince time immemorial, we have looked to the moon and turtle to aid in our telling of time and the seasons(1). Taqôk, or autumn, is one of the most important times of the year for Wôpanâak/Wampanoag people and our sister tribes across the Dawnland (New England). For some, taqôk marked the time of the most […]