PROVINCETOWN, MA— The initial installment of Plymouth 400, Inc.’s first educational and cultural exhibit “Our Story- A Wampanoag History” is now open to the public at Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where it will remain through June 30, 2015. This installment, titled “Captured: 1614” shines a light on a 400-year-old piece of history that had a significant impact on the Wampanoag tribe, their relationship with the Mayflower Pilgrims, and the founding of Plymouth Colony, events that significantly shaped the building of America. Created by a Wampanoag design team and told from the Native perspective, this exhibit will continue its regional tour before returning to Plymouth in Fall 2015 to debut a new installation in the history of the Wampanoag tribe.
“Anyone who celebrates Thanksgiving has some impression of what happened in Plymouth Colony in the 17th century. The goal of Plymouth 400 is to highlight the lesser-known facts, like ‘Captured: 1614’, to further educate and engage the public in the profound effect of this moment in time, and how it has informed centuries of American culture,” said Michele Pecoraro, Executive Director of Plymouth 400, Inc. “The ‘Our Story’ exhibit is just one way in which we intend to tell this story from different perspectives highlighting the voices and viewpoints of different cultures. We want people to understand and feel ownership of these events that significantly shaped America’s earliest beginnings.”
“Contrary to conventional wisdom it was in Provincetown that the Pilgrims first landed and interacted with Native Wampanoag before they discovered Plymouth,” says John McDonagh, Executive Director of the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. “Shown alongside our permanent exhibit, of ‘The Pilgrims’ First Landing in Provincetown,’ ‘Captured 1614’ clearly reveals how the Native people from both Patuxet (Plymouth) and Nauset (Cape Cod/Provincetown) had early encounters with Europeans and the significance to later settling Plymouth.
The exhibition will continue to travel throughout the region over the next five years, exhibiting at the Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow at Barnstable County Fairgrounds in Falmouth, MA from July 3-5, 2015; the Mashpee Public Library in Mashpee, MA from July 6 through August 4, 2015; and Aquinnah Cultural Center in Aquinnah, MA from August 4 through September 20, 2015 with additional locations to be determined.
About Plymouth 400, Inc.
Plymouth 400, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization in Plymouth, Massachusetts formed to lead the planning and execution of programs and events commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony in 2020. The Plymouth 400 Anniversary will highlight the cultural contributions and American traditions that began with the interaction of the Wampanoag and English peoples, a story that significantly shaped the building of America.
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