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 important gatherings and harvests, sometimes referred to as Nikommo, a time in which the spirit Kiehtan is of particular thought(2). As the seasons change we look to our non-human relatives to provide the harvests that sustain us through the colder months, centering their bounty and our gratitude through ceremonies of thanksgiving. Through our many thanksgivings, we honor reciprocity with the natural world, and maintain our responsibilities to the land as Wampanoag people.
For the Aquinnah Wampanoag community, autumn is deeply intertwined with the sustenance provided by our non-human relatives, especially cranberries and deer. Both harvests have helped sustain our community for thousands of years and are natural staples of our diets – from traditional deer succotash or a contemporary cranberry shortcake, as Helen Attaquin (Aquinnah Wampanoag) shared in a 1974 Boston Children’s Museum publication(3). The importance of the cranberry is so enduring that the Aquinnah (Gay Head) Wampanoag community continues to gather for Cranberry Day on the second Tuesday of October, a day well-spent by tribal families as we gather in the bogs to harvest cranberries and share stories and laughter amidst the low-lying vines. Both the cranberry and the deer carry stories of thanks, reminding us of our responsibility to honor their gifts. Every time we gather around them, we fortify our memory of our history and family stories, and also get to create new memories that will belong to our community in perpetuity. Through these practices of reciprocity and storytelling, we continue to shape a future that is grounded in respect for the land and the life that it sustains–during taqôk, during all seasons, and under each moon. •
1 Chief Wildhorse (Clinton Hayes) and Everett Tall Oak Weeden have both documented this continuing forward into the 20th century. Tomaquag Museum holds a copy of Weeden’s Turtle Calendar.
2 Indians, Missionaries, and Religious Transition by David Silverman; William and Mary Quarterly, April 2005.
3 Wampanoag Cookery, 1974. Boston’s Children’s Museum. https://bcmstories.com/pdfs/JLWampanoag%20Cookbook.pdf
Photos: NaDaizja Bolling
