Learning a new language has long been a requirement at most American high schools. While the typical offerings include Spanish, French, and Latin, in Mashpee, a small group of students is taking on a language that hasn’t been spoken fluently in centuries. WCAI’s Kathryn Eident has more on the Wôpanâak Language class at Mashpee High School.

The 97th Annual Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow will be returning home; dancers, drummers, vendors and visitors will once again enjoy powwow on tribal lands. The annual powwow will be held July, 6, 7 and 8 at the traditional Powwow Grounds located next to the Community and Government Center at 483 Great Neck Road South in Mashpee.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Historic Preservation Department (THPD) is pleased to announce a new project that is devoted to the 660 Young Adult Tribal members ages 18-30 that are almost always left out of tribal programs.  How many of the 660 have you ever met in person?  This project will hold a couple gatherings so you can meet each other; kind of like speed dating (without the romance) so you can at least check each other out in a no pressure space. After everyone is acquainted THPD wants to know what parts of our history and culture you’re interested in learning more about.  A professional graphic designer team will work with a small group of five that you select to create a touch screen portable exhibit. This format will present the possibility of creating a sub-domain website where the 660 group can drive the audience from their home and school computers.

On Monday, January 29 the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe completed its site transition with the launch of a new responsive website. The new site features a responsive design making the content, video and images view properly on all desktop and mobile devices. The new site, which is largely content driven, provides several blogs, calendars and news features to improve communication.

Tribal Health will be hosting “Dancing Moon Yoga” every Monday evening from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Community and Government Center. Instructor Cecilia “Kimma” King will be giving the classes.

Tribal Health hosts a series of year-round activities to keep tribal members, family and friends in the community active. Maintaining an active life-style can improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease - all diseases that impact Indian Country at a significantly higher rate.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Education Department, through support from the Building Pathways for Tribal Youth, have organized a week of educational games, fairs and a basketball tournament during February vacation. All of the events, games and activities are free and open to tribal youth in middle school, high school or are college age and will be held at the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Community and Government Center.

Wuneekesuq (Good Day!)  Nutus8ees Chenoa Peters (My name is Chenoa Peters). I am currently the 2017-2018 Mashpee Wampanoag Pow Wow Princess. As the Princess, I have traveled to many Pow Wow’s here in New England and my goal is to be able to travel to Bermuda to attend the St. David’s Pow Wow in June 2018.

The Old Indian Meeting House Committee is pleased to announce the events planned for 2018. 

Haskell Indian Nations University sophomore forward Nakia Hendricks (Mashpee Wampanoag) has been named the A.i.i men’s basketball player of the week.
 

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is currently waiting on a decision from the United States Department of Interior on its petition to continue to hold the Tribe’s ancestral homelands in trust. A decision by the Department of Interior is expected to come down sometime in February.  While the Tribe remains cautiously optimistic, a year into the Trump Administration has given the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe plenty to worry about…with concerns that the Trump Administration’s position towards certain groups will overshadow the strength and merit of the thousands of pages of documents submitted over the past 40 years.

Mashpee Chief of Police Scott W. Carline named Brett Calhoun the Officer of the Year. Kevin Frye, who has been on the town’s police department for 24 years, was given the distinguished service medal, and the department welcomed its newest members, officers Bryan Derochea, John Hagerty and John McDonough.

Falmouth Academy senior Kendall Currence and member of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe has already established herself as the greatest scorer in Cape Cod basketball history.

She now sets her sights on all of Massachusetts.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Management Department shares some useful information and preparedness tips on frostbite.   Frostbite is a serious condition that’s caused by exposure to extremely cold temperatures. Stay safe this winter by learning more about frostbite and reading below.   

Brianna D. Cheatham, a senior at Mashpee High School and a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, is Mashpee’s recipient of this year’s Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Certificate of Academic Excellence.

It’s not easy when you’re a basketball player and almost always the smallest one on the court. That’s something that Mashpee High School’s Amiyah Peters—a 7th grader on the varsity team—has to deal with just about every time she suits up for the Lady Falcons.

The article we are sharing this month addresses the Conclusion of the preceding articles that have been presented from “Tribal Child Welfare Codes as Sovereignty in Action” developed by the Native Nations Institute and NICWA.  

The following articles will relate to Peacemaking and the Justice system.  I have edited some of the material to make it cohesive and easy to read.  Various tribes have included Peacemaking in their justice systems and provide a wealth of knowledge about the Peacemaking process.  We will examine the Navajo Peacemaking process.  It is a traditional method of Indigenous justice.  We will continue with Chief Judge Robert Yazzie of the Navajo Nation and look at some of the cases that were handled with Peacemaking.

Steven and Jennifer Peters welcomed a new baby boy, Jacob Sean Peters, on January 17. Jacob was born at Falmouth Hospital and weighed 7lb 3oz. Jacob is now spending lots of time getting to know his big brother, Russell, grandparents Paula Peters, Mark Harding and Allison and Steven Kennedy and the rest of the extended family.

Mashpee Service Unit would like to Congratulate Our Nurse Practitioner Kelsey Simm and Husband Eric on the Arrival of their Beautiful Twin's Connor and Charlotte, Born November 16th ....Conner weighing 6Ibs 7oz and Charlotte 4ibs 12oz. Mom, Dad and The Twins are doing great and enjoying being new parents.