Healey grants Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe state recognition

Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order Tuesday to grant the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe official state recognition.

The tribe, based in Plymouth, has just under 200 enrolled members. Their ancestral lands reach from Plymouth to Cape Cod.

Chairwoman of the tribe Melissa Ferretti said in a she was "overjoyed" by the governor's action.

"It's been almost overwhelming because, you know, it's real now," Ferretti said. "We've been waiting so long to get this done."

Ferretti and other tribal members advocated for years to gain state recognition. The chairwoman said the tribe created two, six-inch binders with 400 years of evidence of the tribe's long-standing presence in the area and sent the material to the Governor's Council in May.

"It was a culmination of a decade of research on my behalf," said Ferretti, adding that it built on the work of previous leadership over hundreds of years.

The order allows the tribe to establish a government-to-government relationship with the commonwealth. Ferretti said it also allows the tribe to access to programs within the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with other federal departments.

But Ferretti said the benefits reach beyond access to programs.

"In many ways, having the recognition, it just really reaffirms our rightful place in history," she said. "And it also reaffirms that we're here, even in Indian country, because there is some amount of respect that you get by being recognized as a tribe."

Healey said in a statement that the order gives the tribe "the recognition they deserve.”

"The Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe has been living in and contributing to our Massachusetts communities since long before the Mayflower’s arrival,” she said.

The Herring Pond Wampanoag joins the Hassanamisco Nipmuc as tribes with recognition in the state. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) are federally recognized tribes in Massachusetts. Ferretti said she hopes Tuesday's announcement is a step toward federal recognition for her tribe.

Brian Weeden, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, celebrated the Herring Pond Tribe's recognition.

"We're thrilled for our cousins in the Herring Pond Tribe that the Commonwealth has officially recognized their ancestors' perseverance in remaining on ancestral lands,” said Weeden in a statement.

Healey also toured the Mashpee Wampanoag reservation on Tuesday in celebration of Native American Heritage Month.