Highland House Museum, Truro, MA
Summer 2021
This new permanent exhibition digs into the history and culture of the Wampanoag, the Indigenous People who have lived on Cape Cod and the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. Drawing on contemporary craft, archival photography, historical maps, and scholarly research, this seminal exhibit reflects a two-year effort to learn about Wampanoag history, and acquire images, objects, and photographs.
One of the recurrent themes of the exhibit is that despite ongoing loss of land, legal rights, culture, and language, the Wampanoag People have endured. Through carrying on their rich traditions and sacred beliefs, they preserve their history and culture. This theme is revealed in many different ways. The four wampum belts (below)—a contemporary piece made by an Aquinnah Wampanoag artist—illustrate how current members of the tribe continue to practice traditional crafts.
Aquinnah Wampanoag artist Julia Marden wove four wampum belts that present a pictorial history of her people. This contemporary work of art carries on the longstanding Native tradition of making wampum belts to record treaties, mark council meetings and adoption ceremonies, and tell stories.
Archival photographs make a powerful statement about the Wampanoag People, showing how they have adapted and survived by passing on traditions and beliefs to younger generations.
A series of historical maps shows what European explorers found, and what they chose to ignore, when they traveled to New England prior to colonizing the region in the late 1600s. Their omissions reveal a desire to promote unsettled land as a way to attract more European settlers.
Handmade objects, on loan from the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, exemplify the ongoing tradition of craft that is integral to Wampanoag culture. The ceramic pots were made from the clay of the cliffs of Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard.