Gay Head Lighthoe, Massachetts Lightho, photographs, pictur, history, lotn, visor rmatn, maps, scriptn, hotels,
Contents:
- GAY HEAD JOURNAL; A TOWN WH HISTORY, BUT WHOSE?
- GAY HEAD VOTED OUT AS MASS. TOWN'S NAME
- GAY HEAD OR AQUNAH? CHANGE TO A VOTE
GAY HEAD JOURNAL; A TOWN WH HISTORY, BUT WHOSE?
Rints the Martha's Veyard island town of Gay Head, Mass., have cid by a three-vote marg to change s name to the origal Indian name of... * how did gay head get its name *
The Wampanoag were the first people of anctors of Wampanoag people have lived for at least 10, 000 years at Aqunah (Gay Head) and throughout the island of Noepe (Martha's Veyard), pursug a tradnal enomy based on fishg and agriculture.
GAY HEAD VOTED OUT AS MASS. TOWN'S NAME
In 1870, over the unanimo objectns of the Wampanoag Indian rints, the Town of Gay Head was rporated. From the Wampanoag pot of view, the prcipal effect of the rporatn of Gay Head was the alienatn of Wampanoag Indian District Lands (rervatn), which was vlatn of the Feral Non-Interurse Act of 1790.
Bee the Tribe ntrolled the Gay Head town ernment for more than a century sce 1870, the effects of this alienatn were largely obscured, and the tegry of the Tribal Common Lands seemed to be aquately protected. In 1972, however, rponse to the growg potentialy for encroachment on Tribal Common Lands, the Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head, Inc.
The mon lands clu the Gay Head Cliffs, Herrg Creek, and Lobsterville.
GAY HEAD OR AQUNAH? CHANGE TO A VOTE
The Master Plan followed several years of vtigative efforts and illtrat the prent visn of the future tribal muny Gay Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aqunah) and the Town of Gay Head entered to agreement June of 1995 to jotly provi for the health, safety and welfare of persons on Tribal Lands by providg for the e of police, fire, and medil personnel and rourc the event of disaster, disorr, fire or other emergenci arisg on Tribal Lands. The Tribe's Aqunah Rangers are EMT certified and provi servic for both Tribal Lands and the up-island 1998, the name of the town was officially changed om Gay Head back to s former Wampanoag name of Aqunah by the state legislature, reprentg regnn of Wampanoag history the regn.
A group of Indians and wh here would like that to May 15, the 191 registered voters this town on the wtern edge of Martha's Veyard will be asked whether Gay Head should change s name to Aqunah, the origal Wampanoag name for the wtern Veyard the measure succeeds, Gay Head would bee only the third Massachetts municipaly this century to rename self. Cottage Cy, also on the Veyard, changed to Oak Bluffs 1907 and Manchter, on the state's north shore, beme Manchter-by-the-Sea last procs began here last month, when Carl Widdiss, a 41-year-old Wampanoag (pronounced wam-pa-NO-og), circulated a petn that asked rints if they wanted to vote on whether Gay Head should bee Aqunah (pronounced ah-KWIN-ah), which he said means "land unr the hill. " The hill, acrdg to tribal lore, is Peaked Hill, a knoll the neighborg town of Chilmark om which all of Gay Head n be Widdiss need 19 signatur, or 10 percent of the votg rolls, to get the qutn on the ballot; ls than two weeks, he llected 24.