In honor of our first educational exhibit, “Our Story, A Wampanoag History”, debuting in Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard this weekend, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this internationally-acclaimed exhibit, which was unveiled in Fall 2014 at Plymouth Public Library:
Captured 1614: Behind the Scenes from SmokeSygnals on Vimeo.
This interactive exhibit 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; cornerstone events that shaped America’s earliest beginnings. The first installation of “Our Story”, titled “Captured: 1614” details the 1614 kidnapping of twenty Wampanoag men from Patuxet, the Wampanoag village that eventually became Plymouth Colony, by European explorers who planned to sell them and the additional seven Natives taken from Nauset on Cape Cod as slaves in Spain. Only one of the Native men is known to have returned home: Tisquantum, otherwise known as Squanto, the Native who with his knowledge of English was integral to the Mayflower Pilgrims’ survival during their first winter in 1621.
“Our Story” was featured in over two dozen regional, national, and international publications, like the New York Times and Public Radio International.
Additional pieces of Native history will be added to the exhibit each fall; this year’s panel addition features the messenger runners, who would run from place to place to deliver news and messages among different Native tribes in the area. Stay tuned for more details on the Fall 2015 unveiling of “The Messenger Runner” in Plymouth!
