Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
February 12, 1987
Historic Ruling Grants Gay Head Indians Federal Recognition
The federal government Wednesday recognized the tribal status of the Gay Head Wampanoag Indians in a historic decision that opens the way to settlement of the bitter, 12-year-old land claim dispute.
November 25, 1983
Gay Head Pact Makes History
The Wampanoag Tribal Council, the Gay Head Taxpayers Association, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the town of Gay Head signed formal settlement papers in the Indian land claim suit last weekend.
The signings represent a major step toward final accord in the suit that has divided the town for nine years.
September 29, 1981
Gay Head Tribal Council Approves Plan to Settle Land Claim Suit
The Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head approved a plan last night that could lead to settlement of the seven-year-old suit claiming Indian ownership of Gay Head town lands.
The 115 to 60 margin in favor of settlement of the suit is being contested by a party within the tribe that favors suing for the entire town. But tribe leaders say they will move toward settlement.
December 10, 1976
Gay Head Voters Authorize Transfer of Common Lands
By one vote short of a two-thirds majority, Gay Head voters last night ordered their selectmen to move forward toward turning the town Common Lands over to the Tribal Council.
The matter is far from an end, still. Ahead lie negotiation, General Court legislation, more town meeting votes, and possibly, countersuits.
But once the common land is transferred, the pending suit by the Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head against the Town of Gay Head will be mooted.
December 6, 1974
Gay Head Council Sues to Recover Lands from Town
An action at law to evict the town of Gay Head from 238 acres of lands within the metes - the cranberry bogs, the Herring Creek and its banks, and the colored cliffs that give the place its name - has been filed in United States District Court at Boston by the Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head.
“It is our last hope ever to be able to think the Indians of Gay Head can have a piece of the land that they can call their own,” said Mrs. Beatrice V. Gentry, president of the council.
November 10, 1972
Wampanoag Council: Tribe Organizes to Protect Gay Head’s Future
To assure that the identity of the Vineyard’s Indians, their history, culture and tribal lands will be preserved, a Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head was organized on Saturday, and Mrs. James R. Gentry elected its president.
February 26, 1937
When Gay Head Was Still Just a District
A collection of old documents dating far back in the last century has been unearthed in the old Jeffers house at Gay Head by Lorenzo D. Jeffers, the present owner of the estate of his ancestors. These documents consist of letters, ledgers, bills and notations kept by Thomas Jeffers, grandfather of the present owner.
June 24, 1930
First Gay Head Powwow for 250 Years is Held
The first powwow to be held on Gay Head since the days of King Philip took place in that town last night, and the flavor and spirit of those ancient days was revived so far as possible when Lorenzo Jeffers was made chief of the tribe. Dressed in full Indian regalia, with a war bonnet on his head, but unaccompanied by the sound of the war drums or the spectacle of Indians dancing in the flickering flames of a bonfire, Rev. Leonard C.
September 20, 1929
Lorenzo D. Jeffers Named Head of Gay Head Tribe
Lorenzo Jeffers, descendant of Mittark, the last Island Indian chief, was duly elected chief of his tribe at a meeting held at Gay Head last week. The occasion of this election of a chief was the organizing of the tribe in order to gain representation in the Wampanoag Council, in which all the southern New England tribes with their branches were represented at a kindling of the council brand at Mashpee a couple of weeks ago, the first time that the Wampanoags have assembled in tribal council for 200 years.
November 11, 1887
Election of Edwin D. Vanderhoop
While the election of Mr. Vanderhoop last Tuesday was not unexpected, the size of the majority by which that result was secured was probably hardly anticipated even by his friends. The campaign for Mr. Vanderhoop developed into a regular craze as it progressed; he became a sort of Buffalo Bill-among-the-British-nobility. People began to glory in the notion of elevating a Gay Head Indian to in some respects the highest place in the gift of the county.
