Spring is upon us, and for the Wampanoag, “sequan” is the name for spring, or what they regard as the start to a new year, when everything is awakening and coming to life.
“This is true of many Indigenous people, marking that transition into a period of healing and growth and life since time immemorial,” explains Brad Lopes, (Aquinnah Wampanoag) education and outreach coordinator at the Aquinnah Cultural Center.
This sense of infinite time was central to the talk “Sequan: Cultural Perpetuity with More Than Human Relations” that Lopes and Martha’s Vineyard Museum Education Associate Taylor Smalley (Herring Pond Wampanoag) presented on April 26 at the museum.
For the Wampanoag of Aquinnah, Chappaquiddick, Herring Pond, Mashpee, and Assonet, “cultural perpetuity” refers to passing down a culture’s knowledge, values, and practices through the generations. “We have practiced our cultural perpetuity as a people through our relationships with our more-than-human relatives, which might be animals, plants, fungi, or even rocks,” said Lopes. “The reciprocal responsibility we have to those relations is crucial, not only for the planet but for the well-being of ourselves and our nonhuman relatives.”
Lopes and Smalley discussed three key relatives for the Wampanoag: eel, herring, and whales. “We need the gifts these relatives give us, and we have reciprocal responsibilities we owe them in return, being in community with one another. Each gift deserves an offering, a prayer. When you take something, are you planting something in return?” says Lopes. Likewise, taking only what you need is crucial.
For the Wampanoag, eels have always been harbingers of sequan. “They are important ancestrally,” noted Smalley. “They are the first ones to come through our rivers and ponds. They would let us know it is getting close to that time to move to our summer home, where you would think about planting and making sure you are stewarding the waterways for the eels and soon the herring.” She identified other gifts, sharing that eels are packed with vitamins and saying, “With herrings, it’s like downing a bunch of omega-3s.”
The two noted, also, the disruption of the traditional relationship to their relatives.
Referring to Wampanoag lands in Mashpee, Lopes said that the fish are running later and later: “I think it’s related to climate change and the cyanobacteria tied to wastewater from developments. In many Indigenous communities, we’re usually the first ones hit by environmental damage.” He cited the example of the U.S. Navy using Nomans Land, an uninhabited island off Squibnocket, as a practice bombing range from 1943 to 1996.
He said, “It used to have a cedar swamp, which was a sacred place. Now, nothing remains of it. When I look out there at Nomans Land, it breaks my heart.”
Regarding whales, Lopes said, “The gifts they have given us as drift whales have been profound.” But whales are also part of the Wampanoag understanding of the world, through Moshup, the giant who helped form Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard).
Sadly, North Atlantic right whales face danger from vessels moving too quickly and hitting them, fishing gear entangling them, and possibly wind farms disturbing their waterways. “I think of them as family. Each one reminds me of a grandmother, grandfather, a cousin, or a nephew,” said Lopes. “So, whenever I see a whale lose its life, it’s no different from someone in your family losing theirs. It hits you in such a hard way. There are no words in English to describe it appropriately.”
Lopes and Smalley concluded with a discussion about the ontological challenges to Wampanoag continuance. While Wampanoags have inhabited Dawnland (New England) for 12,000 years, Wampanoag sovereignty has often not been respected, which has caused disruption to themselves, their non-human relatives, and their home waters and lands. “We are often prevented, left out, or harassed from engaging in all these responsibilities to our more-than-human relatives in ways we wish we could,” Lopes lamented. “It presents a crisis of being for many Indigenous people. In many cases, we are the ones who see new, experimental technology in our backyards, but we are often left out of the conversation. The U.S. must honor tribal sovereignty more and work toward co-stewardship. That not only means involving us in the decisions about our homelands but also allowing us to make the decisions. I want to encourage people toward land and water back initiatives.”
Lopes emphasized, “We continue to exist across our homelands because we are rooted to the ground, just like our relatives, and always will be. Not only are we still here, but we will always be. Maintaining these more-than-human relationships is key to our sovereignty and cultural perpetuity.”
