The Wampanoag are a Native American people who have lived in what is now southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island for thousands of years. Their name is often translated as “People of the First Light” because their territory faces the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Wampanoag are skilled farmers, fishers, and hunters who lived in villages led by sachems (chiefs). They grew corn, beans, and squash together in mounds, a clever farming technique where each plant helps the others grow. They built homes called wetus, dome-shaped structures made from wooden frames covered with bark or woven mats that could be rolled up in summer for ventilation.

When English colonists arrived in Plymouth in 1620, the Wampanoag helped them survive their first harsh winter. A Native man named Tisquantum, often called Squanto, taught the colonists how to plant corn using fish as fertilizer and where to find food. The sachem Massasoit made a peace treaty with the colonists that lasted over 50 years. The 1621 harvest feast, later remembered as Thanksgiving, included Wampanoag people and colonists sharing a meal together.

Today, the Wampanoag continue to live in their ancestral homeland. The Mashpee Wampanoag and Aquinnah Wampanoag are federally recognized tribes who preserve their language, traditions, and culture while participating fully in modern American life.