The 9th year of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal (MWT) Youth Camp was another success! Since 2012, tribal youth have participated in a month-long, hands-on interactive Summer Science Program, serving 6th, 7th, and 8th grade native students. This is a partnership with MWT’s Natural Resource Department, U.S.G.S., the local science community and the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Program. The purpose of the program is to facilitate a deep understanding of the Mashpee Wampanoag cultural and scientific ties to their land along with their sacred obligations to protect the environment.
Each year since 2017, the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge have participated in all-day, hands-on educational/scientific projects with the tribal youth and staff, and Refuge partners including the US Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge staff, Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife, Massachusetts Department of Conservation fire crew, and US Fish and Wildlife Partners Program staff, to assist tribal youth in creating new pollinator gardens, learn archery, and observe how forestry land practices change the landscape through fire management to restore and maintain important wildlife habitat along with community safety within the fire-prone, rare pitch pine forests of Mashpee and Falmouth.
This year’s camp event took place on July 8, 2021, with 20 native students involved in the environmental educational day. The day started out with the lovely ceremonial and spiritual burning of sweetgrass within a large quahog shell, carried by a youth member to each participate who, while holding hands with others side by side, link and enclose the circle. This year, it felt deeper and richer at this sacred landscape, surrounded by Wampanoag ancestors as the burning sweetgrass scent filled the air around us, binding us together, past to present. We each shared what we were grateful for and what project we were most excited to experience today. Archery seemed to be the winner for most of the kids!
Every year, the Friends are charged with selecting a wide variety of native plants for the yearly native pollinator gardens which, this year, occurred at the entrance of the Wampanoag Cemetery and Meeting House location. The sites were prepped the day before so working the soil with the kids and volunteers would be more enjoyable. A good turnout of Friends volunteers and board members helped make the work go smoothly.
We split into three groups to divide and conquer the plantings at these three locations. As we worked, many tribal members passing by stopped to inquire what was going on and expressed how pleased they were to learn the children were responsible for sprucing up the cemetery landscape with lots of color and tribal-significant native plants. Working for 3 hours, in hot and humid conditions, we successfully planted a total of 271 plants. Of those, 8 were host plants that benefited 11 butterfly species. Overall, we diversified the landscape with 47 different plant species that will bloom from early spring to late fall. These blooming plants strongly round out the growing seasons: 12 spring bloomers, 38 summer blooms, and 22 fall blooming plants. These plants will provide nectar, pollen, and essential host plants for our native pollinators and contribute to the success of fall migrating monarchs while suppling seeds for our over-wintering wildlife.
A sincere Thank You! goes out to the many people who helped make the day such a success. A big thanks to all the volunteers that helped supervised the kids and helped dig in plants. We also thank the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal’s Natural Resource Department for organizing and inviting us to share in the camp events, and finally to our Refuge partners who shared the day’s hard work along with the good laughs throughout the day. We look forward to next years POH youth Camp gatherings.
Until then, be safe, and take care!
Peesh kunâush and have a great Fall.
(photo credits: L. Phu/ US FWS
