The iconic Martha’s Vineyard restaurant formerly known as the Aquinnah Shop Restaurant and the surrounding land have been sold to a Cape Cod-based land organization with roots in the Wampanoag tribe.
The Native Land Conservancy (NLC), founded and led by members of Native tribes, will hold the property temporarily until its final steward, the Aquinnah Land Initiative (ALI), a new nonprofit, is granted its 501(c)3 status and is able to fundraise the purchase cost.
The announcement was made in a press release issued on Friday, August 18.
“I am thrilled to have the land back in the hands of the Wampanoag people,” says ALI President, Wenonah Madison.
Madison is the great-granddaughter of Napoleon and Nanette Madison, who founded the restaurant in 1948. The restaurant was sold outside the Wampanoag tribe in 2016.
The ALI is an Aquinnah-based land conservation group led by a Wampanoag, all-female board of directors, a press release from the organization says.
ALI’s mission is to restore “the sacred relationship between native people and our ancestral lands,” the group says. “ALI’s goals include land reclamation/rematriation, advocacy, restoration efforts, cultural preservation, and collaborating with other local conservation-focused organizations. In addition to honoring and sustaining Wampanoag ways within this property and future land acquisitions.”
The press release states that ALI has been assured that a Wampanoag-owned business will lease the former restaurant.
The 3.3-acre property including the cliff side restaurant, a parking lot, and open space that connects to the Aquinnah Cultural Center, was originally listed for $3.5 million in June. The sale was finalized on Friday, August 18 at $2 million.
NLC, based in Mashpee, has all-Native board of directors consisting of members from the Aquinnah, Herring Pond, Mashpee Wampanoag, and Nipmuc tribes. The group is dedicated to “rescuing, restoring, and protecting land to foster healthy natural environments for all living things.”
“Our priority has always been on recovering ancestral homelands and providing indigenous access for cultural purposes. We are a national organization having provided technical and financial assistance to indigenous organizations in other states. We are incredibly grateful to our donors that have made it possible for us to step in and protect this culturally significant place for the Aquinnah community. This success is historically meaningful,” says Ramona Peters who founded NLC in 2012. “Our board is very excited to be supporting ALI that shares our mission and looks forward to future collaborations.”
Both ALI and NLC plan to prioritize erosion protection on the property, which includes an area on the face of the Gay Head Cliffs where the effects of climate change are measurable.
There are plans for both organizations to collaborate on acquiring other land for cultural access and stewardship on Martha’s Vineyard.
“For time immemorial Wôpanâak women have watched over our ancestral lands and worked hard to remain here on the Island and in Aquinnah,” says Madison, “ALI will continue this tradition, empowered by the cultural understanding that our bodies are not separate from our land. We are grateful and humbled by the support and mentorship of the Native Land Conservancy.”
This is the most encouraging news I’ve heard in ages. So often the put-a-price-on-everything economy destroys community institutions whose value can’t be reckoned in money. This time the Native Land Conservancy was ready and able to reclaim what could so easily have been lost. Thank you all.
End of an era.😪With fond memories.
AHO ✨🙏✨🪶🌊☀️🌈
So proud!!! Way to go, team ALI and everyone else that collaborated to ensure this land is retained by it’s rightful owners – the Wampanoag people.
A triumph!! I’ll be following along and donating and sharing. Congratulations to all involved.
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