_Where the Wampanoag
Indian Tongue is Still
Chanted_
Mrs. Dorcas Gardner, of Wampanoag Indian descent, sits in a low-ceiling
little room mellowed from many years of simple living, and she speaks
with the wisdom of her 74 years.
“Why? I come up against the word Why so often I have to let it go by.
The Lord knows best. It should be a better world after this war. When
you go to the lowest, there must be an uplift somehow. We’ve seen so
much of the bad we’re bound to have some good come out of it.”
Mashpee (originally Massapee) is steeped in Indian lore. Here is Cape
Cod’s smallest town. It has a population of 405. George Perlot proudly
points to the town’s remarkable service record.
From the tent days Camp Edwards has had close ties with little Mashpee.
Indeed, 90 per cent of its airport is on Mashpee land. But this
historic settlement has always had more than a local reputation, as far
back as 1658 when Richard Bourne began his evangelistic work among the
Indians. Mashpee election returns are watched for and featured in the
city newspapers, because they are the first to be announced in every
State or Federal polling.