The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe are hoping to block a controversial wind energy project. The tribes say the 440-foot-tall turbines that will be erected by Cape Wind will block their view of Nantucket Sound. They are also worried about the impact on sacred and cultural sites in the sound, which used to be dry land and features prominently in Wampanoag history. "The very meaning of ‘Wampanoag’ rendered in English as the phrase ‘People of the First Light or Dawn’ refers to their relationship to Nantucket Sound . . . is both temporally literal — they have always been/are/will be the first people to see the sunrise over the water — and symbolically referential: they are of the place, it is how they identify themselves and how others know them," the Massachusetts Historical Commission said in a recent opinion The opinion says Nantucket Sound should be listed on National Register of Historic Places, a designation that could prevent the Cape Wind project from moving forward. Get the Story:
Tribe Scores a Key Win In Fight Over Cape Wind (The Martha's Vineyard Gazette 11/13) Related Stories:
Editorial: Wampanoags blow smoke on wind plan (11/10)
Letter backs Massachusetts tribes on sacred site (11/6)
Interior promises action on wind turbine project (11/3)
Editorial: Reject tribal claim on wind turbine site (11/2)
Massachusetts tribes fight wind farm project (10/5)
Obama declined Aquinnah Wampanoag meeting (08/31)
Letter: Tribal opposition to wind energy project (07/16)
Massachusetts tribes oppose wind turbine site (7/15)
NYT Blog: Salazar on Indian Country rights-of-way (03/25)