Juli Vanderhoop: A woman of the first light

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Wampanoag translates to “people of the first light.” One of the Vineyard’s Wampanoag matriarchs and one of its brightest lights is Julianne Vanderhoop, who goes by Juli. With her genuine energy and positive outlook, Juli is a tribal elder. She is an Aquinnah select board member, and also serves on a number of other committees and organizations all around the Island. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation’s Creative Living Award.

With Indigenous Peoples Day recently celebrated on Oct. 14, I learned one of Juli’s favorite traditions to commemorate her history is to visit her ancestral graveyards and give a ceremony of thanks.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head records, “The Wampanoag were the first people of Noepe. The ancestors of Wampanoag people have lived for at least 10,000 years at Aquinnah (Gay Head) and throughout the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), pursuing a traditional economy based on fishing and agriculture. Our beliefs and a hundred million years of history are imprinted in the colorful clay Cliffs of Aquinnah.”

I asked Juli about the importance of being on her motherland. She answered, “I can honestly say this place has made me a better person. It is so spiritual as well as healing for me to be on my territorial grounds, and to exemplify who I am and who my people are. It has created a great foundation for what I do and what I teach. This is the place we call Blackbrook as native people, and we know the ancestors are here. I know there is guidance on this path, presence on this journey I have been on, and it keeps on creating itself with a magnificent light that I cannot refuse to go toward.”

Nineteen years ago, at 40, Juli returned to the Vineyard with her two kids, Ella and Emerson, and a dream of creating a business of her own, now known as Orange Peel Bakery. Raised working in her family restaurant, she wanted to continue her entrepreneurial roots to provide for her family, as many people of the tribe traditionally do. The start of the bakery was kismet, as Juli baked healthier items than those sold in most stores. But this is no typical bakery. It’s a spiritual experience guided by her faith and love for the community, deeply rooted in her culture and heritage.

One unique thing about Orange Peel Bakery is that it’s run based on an honor system. The word selflessness has the tendency to be associated with the Wampanoag heritage, as it’s a common practice to prioritize the well-being of others before oneself. Whenever you set foot on Juli Vanderhoop’s land, there is an aura ever so uplifting that sweeps across the terrain. The aroma of freshly baked goods consumes your senses; you may even hear the uplifting folk music Juli feels so connected to, playing on 91.9 FM WUMB in the background. In a world full of hate, crime, and negativity, there’s something to be said about the hopefulness of Vanderhoop’s operation, still believing there is good in humanity.

In a capitalistic society, many go out with the sole purpose of finding wealth, but what good is all the riches if you are not giving back to the community? “It’s the community that will feed your soul,” she said, as she encourages people to consider pouring into the spaces they are a part of — to think outside of just oneself, an idea inherent to the Wampanoag way of caring for others.

Growing up, Juli always felt that sense of community from her tribe, and does now as a tribal elder. I asked, What was something she learned from her tribe as a child that has stayed with her?

“I learned that it is important to pay it back by paying it forward. When someone is on my territory, the respect in my culture is that they would be able to receive something good. There’s knowledge in that care that’s important, because it’s so genuine. It has been able to surprisingly sustain who I am. To be able to connect on that level and give people trust, which you can’t find in most places in the world … I want to create this same world I have always been given to my community, and those even outside of the tribe.”

Independence, connection to community along with building it, having a strong sense of self with genuine energy, and making a living from the environment are a few indigenous roots Juli is passing down to her children.

I asked what legacy Juli wanted to leave with the world. She replied, “As a young child, people always said, ‘Who are the Wampanoags, and where are they?’ I would be standing right there talking to them … no one saw who we were, and I wondered who they were looking for? It was then I realized that you cannot understand what it’s like to be unseen, unless you are one of these races who is not seen.” Growing up experiencing this sense of invisibility motivated Juli to dedicate her life to representing her community. “I really want people to know about the presence of my people. There is an absolute absence of thought on this Island toward native people or minority people in general … My legacy will be an example that indigenous people will find a way to create businesses and live, here especially, with some sort of freedom that goes along with who we are.”

There is something to be said about the dedication Vanderhoop has to her community: “It is never an easy day, and often it is just me working. I work for this community tirelessly.” Vanderhoop stretches herself thin doing as many things as she can to show her commitment to representing her community and native land. Her commitment does not go unnoticed, as she has become one of the most respected trailblazers in the community. “From one meeting to the next I am often found to give a representation of not only my people’s history, but the Island’s history — as more and more people are coming to the Island as transplants.”

Juli then asked me, “How do you step forward, claim your rightful place, and announce it to the world?” It’s a burning question so many spend their lives trying to answer. Juli does this by continuously integrating herself in the Island community, and making sure that her voice is heard for her entire native community. “We had no positions at any of the tables, really; in government, at the schools, etc. These were all driven by people who were outside of the community. I realized there was a big responsibility for us to do what we can to have a seat at the table. No matter how much or little time we have, we have a responsibility to hold onto our history, because if we don’t, then we can’t live here any more. That is part of the responsibility I feel when it comes to the business I created, centered around who I am, and my people who are around me.”