Sassafrass Earth Education and the Aquinnah Cultural Center are collaborating to launch an Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 11, which they hope to make an annual event. The event will be happening at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary from 2 to 4 pm.
Indigenous Peoples Day is being held with three primary goals: the celebration and commemoration of Indigenous Peoples Day — which is already officially recognized in various states and cities — increasing the public’s awareness of the Wampanoag presence on Martha’s Vineyard (Noepe in the Wampanoag language), and discussing ongoing impacts of settler colonialism. The event is planned to open with a “spoken acknowledgment of the Wampanoag territory and of Indigenous Peoples Day,” according to the Sassafrass Earth Education website.
The celebration will be accompanied by drumming, music, storytelling, and speakers. The speakers will discuss various topics related to the lives of Native Americans, such as “historic truths, contemporary impacts of ‘C’ day, honoring Wampanoag ancestors’ and Indigenous peoples’ continued legacy today,” according to the Sassafrass Earth Education website. Speakers include Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) member Kristia Hook, Mashpee Wampanoag artisan Ramona Peters, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) member Carole Vandal, Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project instructor Camille Madison, Black Brook Singers musician Durwood Vanderhoop, and Sassafrass Earth Education founder David Vanderhoop.
The event is free and open to the public.
