Editing Mashpee, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==
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=== Pre-colonial ===
[[File:Avant House.jpg|thumb|left|Avant House of the [[Wampanoag people]] of Mashpee, Massachusetts.]]
[[Cape Cod]] was occupied for more than ten thousand years by [[indigenous peoples]]. The historic [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Wampanoag]] were the native people encountered by the English [[settler|colonists]] here and in the area of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in the seventeenth century. The Wampanoag also controlled considerable coastal area. These two cultures would interact, shaping each other for decades.

=== 17th century ===
After English colonists arrived, they began to settle the area of present-day Mashpee in 1658 with the assistance of the [[missionary]] Richard Bourne, from the neighboring town of [[Sandwich, Massachusetts|Sandwich]]. In 1660 the colonists allowed those Christian Wampanoag who had been converted about {{convert|50|sqmi|km2}} in the English settlement. Beginning in 1665, the Wampanoag governed themselves with a court of law and trials according to English custom (they had long governed themselves according to their own customs).

[[File:Old Indian Meetinghouse.jpg|thumb|left|The "[[Old Indian Meeting House]]", built in 1684 at Mashpee, is the oldest Native American church in the United States.]]
Following their defeat in [[King Philip's War]] (1675–1676), the Wampanoag of the mainland were resettled with the [[Sakonnet]] in present-day [[Rhode Island]]. Others of the people were brought, together with the [[Nauset]], into the [[praying town]]s, such as Mashpee, in [[Barnstable County, Massachusetts|Barnstable County]]. There were also Wampanoag on Martha's Vineyard and other areas.

The colonists designated Mashpee on Cape Cod as the largest [[Indian reservation]] in Massachusetts. The town's name is an Anglicization of a native name, ''mass-nippe'': ''mass'' is "great", or "greater" (see ''Massa''chusetts), and ''nippe'' is "water". The name has been translated as "the greater cove" or "great pond," or "land near great cove", where the water being referenced is [[Wakeby Pond]], which is greater at one end.

=== 18th century ===
In the year 1763, the British Crown designated Mashpee as a [[Plantation (settlement or colony)|plantation]], against the will of the Wampanoag. Designation as a plantation meant that the area governed by the Mashpee Wampanoag was integrated into the colonial district of Mashpee. The colony gave the natives the "right" to elect their own officials to maintain order in their area, but otherwise subjected them to colonial government. The population of the plantation declined steadily due to the conditions placed upon the Wampanoag. They also suffered from encroachment on their lands by the English.

Following the [[American Revolutionary War]], the town in 1788 revoked Mashpee self-government, which European-American officials considered a failure. They appointed a committee, consisting of five European-American members, to supervise the Mashpee. [[William Apess]], a [[Pequot]] [[Methodist]] preacher, helped the Mashpee Wampanoag lead a peaceful protest of this action, and the governor threatened a military response.

=== 19th century ===
In 1834, the state returned a certain level of self-government to the Wampanoag, although they were not completely autonomous. With the idea that emulating European-American farming would encourage assimilation, in 1842 the state broke up some of the Wampanoag communal land. It distributed {{convert|2000|acre|km2}} of their {{convert|13000|acre|km2|adj=on}} property in allotments of {{convert|60|acre|m2|adj=on}} parcels to heads of households, so that each family could have individual ownership for subsistence farming.

The legislature passed laws against the encroachments on Wampanoag land by European Americans, but did not enforce them. The competing settlers also stole wood from the reservation. It was a large region, once rich in wood, fish and game, and desired by white settlers, who envied the growing community of Mashpee. The Mashpee Indians suffered more conflicts with their white neighbors than did other more isolated or less desirable Indian settlements in the state.<ref name="HNAIff">''Handbook of North American Indians.'' Chapter: "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island, late period," p. 178ff; [http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/ Mashpee Wampanoag Nation webpage]; [http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/index Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah webpage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017182108/http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/index |date=October 17, 2016 }}</ref>

In 1870 the state approved the incorporation of Mashpee as a [[town]], the second-to-last jurisdiction on the Cape to undergo the process. Ultimately the Wampanoag lost control of their land and self-government. Many of their descendants remain in the area and identify as Mashpee by their communal culture.

=== 20th century ===
In the early 1970s, the Mashpee reorganized and filed a land claim against the state for the loss of lands. While they ultimately did not win their case, the Mashpee continued to develop as an organized community and gained federal recognition as a tribe in 2007.

=== 21st century ===
Today the town of Mashpee is known both for tourist recreation and for its distinctive minority Wampanoag culture. The population is predominately European American in ancestry. As the town attracts numerous summer visitors, there are many seasonal businesses and service jobs to support this tourism.

The [[Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe]] has its headquarters here. In 2015 the Department of Interior evaluated taking into trust {{convert|170|acres|km2}} in Mashpee as a reservation for the Wampanoag, who already controlled the land, however in 2018 the request was ultimately rejected.<ref name="Winokoor">{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldnews.com/news/20180908/latest-mashpee-wampanoag-land-in-trust-decision-elicits-joy-and-dismay|title=Latest Mashpee Wampanoag land-in-trust decision elicits joy and dismay|last=Winokoor|first=Charles|website=The Herald News, Fall River, MA|language=en|access-date=June 19, 2019}}</ref> This decision also applied to the {{convert|150|acres|km2}} in Taunton, Massachusetts, which the Wampanoag tribe had acquired.<ref name="horridge">[https://www.casino.org/news/massachusetts-casino-possible-for-mashpee-wampanoag-tribe Kevin Horridge, "Surprise Massachusetts Casino Could Result from New Mashpee Wampanoag Land Grant"], ''Casino.org, September 21, 2015; accessed January 19, 2017</ref><ref name="Winokoor"/>

That action was challenged in October 2016 by a United States District Court decision, reached after a suit was filed earlier that year by opponents to Mashpee Wampanoag's plans to build a gaming casino on their Taunton land.<ref name="murphy">[https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/11/taunton-casino-foes-get-their-day-court/WS3JQIR8GAuMKlYBfljJJP/story.html Sean P. Murphy, "Judge promises quick decision on challenge to Taunton casino"], ''Boston Globe,'' July 11, 2016; accessed January 18, 2017</ref><ref name="horridge"/>

The Wampanoag hold an annual [[pow-wow]] at which they display both modern and traditional activities and crafts.<ref>''Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Street Atlas'', South Easton, MA: Arrow Maps, Inc., 2004, p. 61.</ref>