Human Rights Awards Breakfast honors Wampanoag culture and history
December 12, 2021
As chairwoman of Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe, Melissa Ferretti beamed as she spoke about the tribal youth, who “empower one another and work as a team.”
“Our tribal youth is paramount, and we always have an inherent need to share the strength and resilience it takes to promote youth advancement, build self-confidence, and encourage leadership,” Ferretti said. “We are committed to empowering and educating them about these values to ensure that they will be prepared for a strong future as self-determining citizens of the Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe, and the Wampanoag nation as a whole.”
Rachael Devaney Cape Cod Times
As attendees of the Barnstable County Human Rights Awards Breakfast looked on, Sheila Lyons said the county collectively “acknowledges that Cape Cod occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Wampanoag Tribe.”
The land acknowledgment is the first of its kind in county history, she said.
“We recognize, support and advocate for the sovereignty of these indigenous communities,” said Lyons, a member of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners and Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Committee liaison. “We affirm indigenous sovereignty and we’ll work to hold Barnstable County more accountable to the needs of all indigenous people.”
Lyons’ comments kicked off the county’s annual human rights breakfast, which this year was titled Honoring the Wampanoag Nation – Keepers of the Earth. Roughly 150 people attended the virtual event on Zoom teleconferencing Friday morning.
Keynote speaker was Jonathan Perry, councilman for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), who spoke about Wampanoag history, which spans “at least” 20,000 years, he said. The last 400 years brought challenges to tribal entities throughout the region, but learning from those difficulties brings the ability “to make a better world for all,” he said.
“We can collectively work together to address the changes that are forced upon us as the result of imbalances like climate change and superstorms, and the erosion of the land that we hold dear,” Perry said. “We have to collectively be those good stewards that our ancestors were trained for and maintained – those thousands of years ago.”
State Sen. Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, who spoke throughout the program, said she was moved by Perry’s words.
“The Wampanoag nation is the consistency, the respect for the land, the respect for women, and the respect for elders,” Moran said. “I’m incredibly awestruck by the opportunity to continue to work with the Wampanoag tribe.”
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., spoke about Wampanoag youth who earned Unsung Hero awards at the breakfast. Recipients included Jayden Murray, 16; Fionna Gately, 7; Ava Hannigan, 9; Ayanee M., 7; and Waanutam M., 9, all of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, and Isaiah Peters, 14; and Storam Pauline Coombs of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. The award winners were recognized for activities related to environmental preservation, cultural enrichment, and elder and ancestral respect and honor. Your stories live here. Fuel your hometown passion and plug into the stories that define it.
Wampanoag youth consistently work towards “restoring and preserving the environment and the cultural heritage of indigenous people in the region,” Keating said. Youth activism is “key to improving environmental aspects of climate change.”
“The Wampanoag’s have been careful stewards of the land for tens of thousands of years, long before the arrival of European settlers,” Keating said. “The impact that centuries and increased population and an all too often disregard for air, water and land around us is an embarrassment of our generation.”
When speaking about the young award winners, state Rep. David Vieira, R-Falmouth, said it’s “good medicine” to see a younger generation “engaged in the future of their tribe.”
“Not just the future of their culture, but the future of the shared vision of working together,” Vieira said. “Together, we will be able to overcome challenges, right wrongs and create a greater vision for the future of those that were here before us and all of us that are here today.”
As chairwoman of Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe, Melissa Ferretti beamed as she spoke about the tribal youth, who “empower one another and work as a team.”
“Our tribal youth is paramount, and we always have an inherent need to share the strength and resilience it takes to promote youth advancement, build self-confidence, and encourage leadership,” Ferretti said. “We are committed to empowering and educating them about these values to ensure that they will be prepared for a strong future as self-determining citizens of the Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe, and the Wampanoag nation as a whole.”
Although Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) tribe, didn’t choose specific youth award winners from the tribe, she said she acknowledged “all Wampanoag youth,” and promoted their ability to “maintain the connectivity with each other.”
“They are the culture bearers of our future and our present — they’ve collectively demonstrated what it is to be a tribal community by staying together,” she said. “We applaud and appreciate you all.”
As programming for the awards breakfast continued, others received citations including John Reed, president of the Cape Cod chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and co-founder and president of Zion Union Heritage Museum in Hyannis, who won the Rosenthal Community Champion award; William Mills, a former editorial page editor for the Cape Cod Times, who won the Cornerstone Award; and Sandra Faiman-Silva, author of “The Courage to Connect,” who won the Tim McCarthy Award.
Patricia Oshman, of the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission, called Reed a community member committed to “fostering and supporting human rights, concepts and ideals.” Because Oshman and Reed initiated the Human Rights Academy together, Oshman credited him with bringing Black history and Black literature to area schools; establishing the Zion Union Heritage Museum; and bringing bilingual teachings to the American Red Cross Massachusetts area locations, including CPR and first aid trainings.
“He’s a leader — not just for people of color, but for anyone who needs advocacy and their rights,” she said. “He changed my life. He changed the lives of everybody.”