Building on tradition
Harvard students build a traditional wetu using poles and bark
For the first time in more than three centuries, a Native American home stands in Harvard Yard.
Over three days, a group of Harvard students built a traditional Wampanoag home, called a wetu, near the site of Harvard’s Indian College, one of the first buildings on campus, constructed to house students from nearby tribes. (click above link to read story/view picture gallery).
Of related interest the Wampanoag Photo Gallery and of particular note: the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5 and Page 6.
I'll also add that Paul Cuffee, the Quaker abolitionist, entrepreneur and ship builder from New Bedford and Westport MA was of Akan (West African) and Wampanoag (Martha's Vineyard MA) descent. In one of the first acts of civil disobedience in the new United States, he and some male relatives landed in a Dartmouth jail around 1780, for non-payment of taxes. Because the newly drafted US Constitution of 1778 specifically excluded 'Negroes', Cuffee attempted to claim his Wampanoag heritage to gain some of legal rights available to the Wampanoags. Though his petition and lawsuit was denied, his act later paved the way for voting rights to extend to all free black men in Massachusetts.
For the first time in more than three centuries, a Native American home stands in Harvard Yard.
Over three days, a group of Harvard students built a traditional Wampanoag home, called a wetu, near the site of Harvard’s Indian College, one of the first buildings on campus, constructed to house students from nearby tribes. (click above link to read story/view picture gallery).
Of related interest the Wampanoag Photo Gallery and of particular note: the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5 and Page 6.
I'll also add that Paul Cuffee, the Quaker abolitionist, entrepreneur and ship builder from New Bedford and Westport MA was of Akan (West African) and Wampanoag (Martha's Vineyard MA) descent. In one of the first acts of civil disobedience in the new United States, he and some male relatives landed in a Dartmouth jail around 1780, for non-payment of taxes. Because the newly drafted US Constitution of 1778 specifically excluded 'Negroes', Cuffee attempted to claim his Wampanoag heritage to gain some of legal rights available to the Wampanoags. Though his petition and lawsuit was denied, his act later paved the way for voting rights to extend to all free black men in Massachusetts.