Indigenous Ceremony Links Orleans’ Present To Its Storied Past

ORLEANS – On a cloudless afternoon last Saturday, traffic moved along all corners of Veterans Memorial Park. But inside the park at the intersection of Route 28 and Main Street, there was a distinct feeling of calm. 

 Earl Cash Jr., or “Soaring Eagle,” the medicine man for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, conducted a sage burning ceremony inside the park, where residents gathered to acknowledge a new marker set in the ground to honor Orleans’ Indigenous history. One by one, Soaring Eagle enveloped attendees in the smoke of burning sage from a conch shell, a ritual designed to cleanse the spirit and carry prayers to the creator above.

 “Let’s just name it what came to my mind right now: serving all people,” he said after the ceremony when asked about the ritual.

 The Indigenous marker, designed by artist and Wampanoag member Robert Peters, includes a land acknowledgment that exists in the town charter and is read as a preamble at the start of each meeting of the town’s select board.

 “We acknowledge with respect that we are inhabiting the official lands of the Wampanoag peoples that have always existed here. We value their roles as past, present and future guardians of this land,” Select Board Chair Mefford Runyon read.

The marker also depicts a turtle, an animal rich with symbolism for the Wampanoag people. A list of seven generations (mother, grandmother, great-grandchild, etc.) outline the exterior of the turtle’s shell. Within that are five corresponding virtues, and in the center, the creator.

 The emblem, Peters said, represents the Wampanoag Medicine Shield.

 “If you ever have those seven generations sitting at a table, that’s the safest you’ll ever be,” he said. “That is a shield.”

 Plans for the marker grew out of the 2023 annual town meeting, where $110,000 was sought in support of the since-completed renovation of Veterans Memorial Park. Orleans resident Bruce Taub spoke against the funding, noting the project’s failure to recognize the town’s Indigenous history. 

 At last week’s ceremony, Taub called his decision to speak “a guerilla action.”

 “I spoke for them,” he said “I was inspired by them and I spoke for them.”

 The article seeking the funding failed, but was then reconsidered after an amendment was made to include plans for an Indigenous marker to be placed as part of the park’s design. The funding was approved with the amendment.

 Long before its settlement by European explorers in 1693, Orleans and neighboring land that would later become Eastham and Wellfleet were first occupied by the Nauset Tribe, which was part of the Wampanoag Confederation.

 “The Nausets, like other native tribes, did not have a written language and thus did not leave a written record of their lives, history, and experiences,” according to a history of the town provided by the Orleans historical commission. “However, through the passing of oral histories, discoveries of archaeologists, and contemporary observations of explorers, visitors and colonists, we can appreciate the vibrancy and complexity of the Nauset civilization as well as the impact of colonization as they saw it.”

 The marker sits on the eastern side of the park. Kevin Higgins, chair of the town’s veterans committee that helped lead efforts to renovate the park, said the decision was made to locate the marker there “so as to face the rising sun, which represents the spiritual awakening and symbolizes the circle of life.”

Higgins noted how evidence of Orleans’ Indigenous history exists all over, with names such as Nauset, Skaket, Tonset and Portinimicut affixed to local beaches, roads and businesses. State Rep. Hadley Luddy, D-Orleans, also spoke of the Nauset and Wampanoag influence on the town’s fishing and agricultural economy. 

 “It is so fitting to have this marker join the site of hundreds of bricks that remember and honor our veterans, and this fitting tribute will remind our community of the history of this land and our deep native roots that exist only thanks to the roots placed here by the Wampanoag Nation,” she said.

 During the ceremony, Soaring Eagle discussed the Wampanoag and Nauset people’s belief in the interconnectedness of all things. Part of that connection, he said, calls for breaking away from the stresses, pressures and distractions of everyday life.

 “I walk tall but softly on Mother Earth,” he said. “So I ask all of you here today to spend more time in here,” he said, pointing to his heart, “instead of out there. Understand who you are, because we sometimes lose sight of that in this world of today.”

 The marker represents not only an acknowledgement of the town’s Native history, but also a commitment to honoring that history into the future, said Michael Herman of the select board.

 “We offer our gratitude to the ancestral Nauset people and are committed to promoting sovereignty and the rights of all the Wampanoag people.”

 Two years after standing up at town meeting, Taub called last weekend’s ceremony something beyond his “wildest imagination.”

 “I believe that there’s an incredible amount of wisdom that the Indigenous people possess, and I don’t want to see it die,” he said. “I want it to become part of our lives. So this is a gift, that’s all I can say.”

The ceremony was preceded by a performance by the Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers Saturday morning at the Orleans Farmers Market.