Pokanoket Nation

The Pokanoket Nation, also known as the Pokanoket Tribe, is one of several cultural heritage organizations of individuals who identify as descendants of the Wampanoag people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.[5] They formed a nonprofit organization called the Council of Seven & Royal House of Pokanoket & Pokanoket Tribe & Wampanoag Corporation in 1994.[2]

This article is about a contemporary unrecognized tribe and nonprofit organization. For unrecognized tribe and nonprofit in Cranston, Rhode Island, see Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation. For 16th and 17th-century Wampanoag village, see Pokanoket.
Pokanoket Nation
Council of Seven & Royal House of Pokanoket & Pokanoket Tribe & Wampanoag Corporation
Named afterPokanoket, a Wampanoag village
Formation1994[1]
Founded atMillbury, Massachusetts[2][1]
Typenonprofit organization[1]
EIN 05-0474463[1]
PurposeEthnic/Immigrant Services (P84}[1]
HeadquartersBristol, Rhode Island
Location
  • United States
Membership (2017)
200–250[3]
Official language
English
Chief/Sagamore
William Guy, aka Po Wauipi Neimpaug[3]
President
Michael S. Weeden[2][1]
Websitepokanokettribe.com
Formerly called
Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation[4]

The Pokanoket Nation is an unrecognized organization. They are neither a federally recognized tribe[6] nor a state-recognized tribe.[7]

In 2015, they dropped "Wampanoag" from their name.[3] They should not be confused with other unrecognized heritage groups, such as the Pokanoket/Wampanoag Federation, based in Warwick, Rhode Island;[4] Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation, based in Auburn, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island; or the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Their chief or sagamore, William Guy, is also known as Po Wauipi Neimpaug.[3] Guy claims descent from Massasoit.[3]

The Narragansett Indian Tribe, the only federally recognized tribe in Rhode Island, does not recognize the Pokanoket Nation as a Native American tribe.[3] The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, one of the only two federally recognized Wampanoag tribes, states they are the descendants of the historical Pokanoket people.[8]

Nonprofit organization

The Council of Seven & Royal House of Pokanoket & Pokanoket Tribe & Wampanoag Corporation registered as a nonprofit corporation in 1994.[1] Michael S. Weeden of Millbury, Massachusetts, is the registered agent.[2]

The officers are:

  • President: Michael S. Weeden
  • Vice President: Lauri Groh-Germin
  • Treasurer: Craig Martin
  • Secretary: Krista Viera[2]

Petition for federal recognition

In 1994, Clifford Guy of Bristol, Rhode Island, sent a letter of intent to petition for federal recognition on behalf of the Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation, but no documented petition has been submitted by the group.[4][9]

Land claims
Territory claimed by the Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation

In 1996, Paul Weeden, an early organizer for the group and cousin of William Guy, requested that Brown University give a parcel of land at Mount Hope to the organization. The Pokanoket Nation demonstrated at Brown University in 2016, then held an encampment and set up a roadblock, claiming that the campus land belonged to them as the heirs of the Wampanoag people at Pokanoket.[3] Brown agreed to put part of its land into trust for conservation and to make it available for use by the Pokanoket Nation and similar groups.[3] Brown's agreement included the two federally recognized Wampanoag tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).[3]

The Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation publicly voiced opposition to the Mohegan Tribe building a casino in Massachusetts and said the proposed site is on their ancestral homelands.[10]

Activities

The Pokanoket Nation is a member of the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA), an advocacy group based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, comprising nine organizations that are not recognized as Native American tribes.[3]

In 2017, they protested the repatriation of grave goods belonging to Massasoit to the Mashpee Wampanoag, Aquinnah Wampanoag, and the Assonet Band of Wampanoag.[8]

See also

References
  1. "The Council of Seven & Royal House of Pokanoket & Pokanoket Tribe". GuideStar. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  2. "Council of Seven & Royal House of Pokanoket & Pokanoket Tribe & Wampanoag Corporation". OpenCorporates. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  3. Kuffner, Alex. "Pokanoket Nation gains in struggle for identity, ancestral lands". The Providence Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  4. "List of Petitioners by State" (PDF). Department of the Interior. November 13, 2013. p. 42. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  5. "The tradition I carry on is…". American Portrait. PBS. September 20, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  6. "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Indian Affairs Bureau. Federal Register. April 5, 2023. pp. 7554–58. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  7. "Appendix B: 66 State-Recognized Tribes". American Indian Health and Nursing. Springer Publishing Connect. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  8. Lindahl, Chris (May 13, 2017). "R.I. tribe protests repatriation ceremony". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  9. Deer, Ada E. (February 10, 1995). "Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation; Receipt for Federal Acknowledgment of Existence as an Indian Tribe". Federal Register. 60 (28): 8134. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  10. "Pokanoket Tribe objects to Mohegan Tribe casino". Indianz.com. July 28, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
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