Traditional knowledge drives conservation
Native American tribes are vital to the success of conservation. Given tribal members’ familiarity with traditional ecological knowledge and management of some of the most important aquatic habitats, our work with tribes ensures the future of our natural ecosystems and those who depend on them. Our Native American liaisons and officials from the federally recognized tribes work together to identify how conservation efforts can be most effective.
This collaboration is built on relationships. Each year, the Service’s Tribal liaisons come together to learn from each other, provide training, and discuss Service’s Native American policy. Changing venues from year to year provides liaisons the chance to talk to members from a variety of tribes. Meetings held in October 2019 brought the group to the Massachusetts coast.
Massachusetts is home to two federally recognized tribes; the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Cape Cod, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Martha’s Vineyard. The Mashpee and Aquinnah are two of the sixty-nine Tribes that existed of the Wampanoag Nation, which extended from present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. During the meet-up, the liaisons had the opportunity to meet with members of both tribes and discuss the ongoing collaborative conservation efforts.
Today, the Mashpee reside in their traditional village of Mashpee in southwestern Cape Cod. Nearby, the Waquoit Bay area, home of salt marshes, cranberry bogs, Atlantic white cedar swamps, freshwater marshes, rivers, and vernal pools, are protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. Not only are the Mashpee NWR and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in close proximity to each other, but they also collaborated for a conservation sharing experience: traditional ecological knowledge from the Mashpee Wampanoag and conservation methods from the Service.
One way the Service’s supports tribes is through Tribal Wildlife Grants administered by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, which are available to tribes to benefit wildlife and their habitats, including species of Native American cultural or traditional importance. This year, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is receiving a Tribal Wildlife Grant to survey sections of the Santuit River to better understand sea run brook trout, their habitat and water quality, and develop a conservation strategy to restore their populations.
The tribe has been a partner in the restoration of New England cottontail habitat through the use of prescribed burning and habitat management. The tribe has also welcomed the Service to participate in the Science Summer Camp for native youth to embrace the traditional knowledge and future conservation of the land.
The Aquinnah’s ancestral lands are located on the southwestern end of Neope (Martha’s Vineyard) and include the Gay Head Cliffs, Herring Creek, and Lobsterville. Combined, the Aquinnah care for 477 acres of ancestral lands that are mostly set aside for common use and benefit. Lands including cranberry bogs, shoreline habitats, and forest resources are managed sustainably, a practice also shared by other towns and conservation groups on the island.
The Aquinnah previously received a Tribal Wildlife Grant to bring back populations of the bay scallop in Menemsha Pond. Scallops are indicators of a healthy ecosystem and help keep water clean as they filter feed. Scallops are also a highly valued food source for the Aquinnah and their colorful shells are a popular collectors item for visitors.
Each year, roughly 150,000 people visit the famous Gay Head Cliffs and view them from Aquinnah Tribal Land. Visitors are drawn to the cliff’s colorful clay layers along the oceanfront, formed by glaciers thousands of years ago. Noman’s Land Island National Wildlife Refuge is located south of Aquinnah and is not open to the public , so the Tribe’s viewing point at the Gay Head Cliffs is the only place where the public can view Noman’s Land Island in its entirety.
Noman’s Land Island is significant in Aquinnah tradition. Tribal tradition dating back 10,000 years states that as the glacier began its retreat, the giant Moshup roamed the land. While trekking over the mainland to the Aquinnah, Moshup became tired from his journey and dragged his foot, leaving a deep gouge in the mud. At first only a trickle of water passed through the gouge, but gradually the force of the ocean widened the stream, creating an island named Noepe. The Aquinnah share the belief that Moshup created Noepe and the surrounding islands, like Noman’s Land, taught the Aquinnah how to fish and catch whales, and still presides over their destinies (Wampanoag History).
The Service has unique obligations towards tribes based on federal trust responsibility, treaty provisions, and statutory mandates. And tribal members offer a unique perspective that can only come from living with the land since time immemorial. As the Service works to strengthen our relationship with tribes in Massachusetts and across the country, we are all working together to ensure a future for ‘Mother Earth’ and all who inhabit it.
