History of Mashpee

dea that emulating European-American farming would encourage assimilation, in 1842 the state broke up some of the Wampanoag communal land. It distributed 2,000 acres (8.1 km) of their 13,000-acre (53 km) property in 60-acre (240,000 m) allotted parcels to heads of households, so that each family could have individual ownership for subsistence farming.

The legislature passed laws against the constant problems of encroachments on Wampanoag land by European Americans, but did not enforce them. The competing settlers also stole wood from the reservation. It was a large region, once rich in wood, fish and game, and desired by white settlers, who envied the growing community of Mashpee. The Mashpee Indians suffered more conflicts with their white neighbors than did other more isolated or less desirable Indian settlements in the state.

Ultimately the Wampanoag lost their land and self-government, although many of their descendants have remained in the area. A 1999 video, Mashpee, describes the impact of 1970s land claims by the Wampanoag.

In 1870 the state approved the incorporation of Mashpee as a town, the second-to-last jurisdiction on the Cape to undergo the process.

Today the town of Mashpee is known both for tourist recreation and for its distinctive Wampanoag culture. The Wampanoag hold an annual pow-wow at which they display traditional activities and crafts