Cape Cod Confidential

Of Blogs and Wampanoags

Walter Brooks, who pays the bills for this joint, has been after me for years to write a blog. The Blogfather, as he is known, is very persistent.

He has no qualms about playing the guilt card. For years he has hosted my Web site, Cape Cod Confidential. He has always plugged my book by the same name. And like any organized crime boss, he remembers every favor he has ever done for you.

A few months ago, I asked him about setting up a blog for me, but on a topic that has little to do with Cape Cod. Walter wasn't interested. He is, if anything, single-minded and that has been the secret of his success. So behind his back, I created a new Web site and started blogging.

Thing is, I started to feel guilty. Walter had asked me to blog first.  And he's always been supportive of the stuff I write. When you add to the mix that I really like the old bastard (but not in a "wide stance" sort of way--not that there's anything wrong with that) I came to the realization I had to do something for him. We all have to do our part to help him make his next million.

I e-mailed Walter and asked him to set up this blog. For the first "issue," he threw up an article on the Tony Costa murders that I had written a few years ago. What you are reading now  is my first true blog entry. For as long as I can continue to do it, I'll post an article about crime and scandal from Cape Cod's past or present a historical perspective to current events on the Cape. Everything has happened before and nothing is new.

Take for example the current turmoil in the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. Peter Kenney  has done a yeoman's job exposing the machinations within the tribe behind the proposed casino in Middleborough. But there have always been factions fighting within the tribe. Hopefully you all read Jack Sheedy's post about William Apess. When Apess arrived in 1833, the Mashpee tribe was in turmoil. Many had abandoned the traditional meetinghouse, which was controlled by a white Congregationalist minister named Phineas Fish, and instead were following a lay preacher named "Blind" Joe Amos. Head on over to Jack's article to find out what happened. Go ahead. I'll be here when you get back.

(While you're out you might want to pick up a copy of Jack's latest book co-written with Jim Coogan, Cape Cod Harvest.  Or better, click on the book link which will take you to Amazon. Please note I get a cut of the sale. I have to make money around here somehow.)

Welcome back. A few years ago I arrived in Mashpee as a reporter. I was excited about the opportunity, because the town was home to the Wampanoags. I had grown up in Oregon next to the Warm Springs Indian reservation. A third of my school were members of one of the three tribes--Warm Springs, Paiute, and Wasco--that had been relocated to Central Oregon. I had immersed myself in their culture and their folklore, and was eager to do the same in Mashpee. But the first Wampanoags I met didn't seem very "Indian" to me. At least not the type of Indians I had known growing up. I began to wonder if these Wampanoags were like the kid I went to school with who would brag he knew all about being Indian because his great-grandfather was Cherokee. The kids from the Reservation would just look at him and shake their heads.

Then I attended a Mashpee selectman's meeting in May 1992. On the agenda was a nonchalant little item, "Shellfish Aboriginal Rights Discussion." Selectmen moved the meeting to the big room, so many people showed up. The audience was filled with Wampanoags. While they did speak of shellfish, most of the time they talked of being Indian in Mashpee. They talked of concerns over the inability to hunt, the effect of pollution on the rivers, and the blocking of ancient ways. After it was over, I was breathless. The same spirit that possessed those I had known in Warm Springs was also present that night. I felt ashamed that I had doubted them.

Little did I know that the events of that night would serve as a catalyst that today has resulted in the campaign to build a casino. But that is another story. And in the world of blogs, there will be plenty of time for stories.

 To read my 1992 article, click HERE for page 1, and HERE for page 2.