MassachusettsHISTORY EXPLORERS GRADES 3–8
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Quick glossary
evidence
Information from a source that helps us test a claim.
source
A document, object, image, or account we can examine.
inference
An explanation based on clues; it still needs checking.
migration
Moving from one place to another to live.
immigrant
A person who moves to another country to live.
estimate
An approximate amount, based on available information.
oral history
A recorded interview about someone’s memories and experiences.
community
People connected by a place, relationships, or shared activities.
ancestry
Family origins across generations.
primary source
Evidence created by someone who experienced a time or event.

Wampanoag homelandsShell, wampum & mishoon films

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Chapter 02 · Past & present

Land & Native nations

Explore New England’s land, water, and the Native nations who call it home.

OUR BIG QUESTION

How does the land shape the ways people live?

Reading:
Read on your own or with a partner.
aquinnah cliffs jpg
Context image: Aquinnah cliffs and Gay Head Lighthouse Image credit

Find our place

Massachusetts is in the Northeast region of the United States. It is one of six New England states, along with Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Atlantic Ocean lies east of Massachusetts. Cape Cod reaches into the ocean. Martha’s Vineyard is an island south of Cape Cod. Rivers, bays, forests, and mountains shape where people travel and work.

Many nations, many communities

Native nations have their own histories, languages, and governments. The Wampanoag homeland includes southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. Nipmuc homelands include parts of central Massachusetts. Massachusett homelands include the area around present-day Boston. These are broad descriptions, not exact borders. Native homelands existed long before today’s state lines.

A living connection

Wampanoag families have lived on Noepe—Martha’s Vineyard—for thousands of years. Fishing, growing food, and knowledge of seasonal changes supported their communities. Wampanoag people live here today, care for land and water, teach traditions, and make decisions through tribal governments. Native history is also part of the present.

Explore the sources:
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) ↗ Who are the Wampanoag? ↗ Massachusetts DESE · Grade 3 framework ↗
Your historian’s notebook

Be a geography detective

Open the built-in source lab below. Its map controls include New England, North America, Native homelands, and Vineyard towns. Work with a partner.

“The map shows ___. This feature could help people ___ because ___.”
  1. On a U.S. political map, find and name all six New England states.
  2. On a physical map, locate the Northeast, Atlantic Ocean, a river, a bay, and a mountain range.
  3. Use the map’s title, legend, directions, and scale. Explain one way a waterway could help people travel or find food.

Talk, draw, or write your response on paper.

Everything you need is here

Open this chapter’s source lab

Land & nations: read the map. Built-in materials, evidence questions, a student notebook, and teacher notes.

Investigate the sources →
Try it yourself

Check your understanding

Choose an answer for each question. You can reread and try again.

1. Which statement about the Wampanoag is accurate?
2. Which is a physical feature?

Meet Wampanoag children today

Preview of The Wampanoag Way
Scholastic / Plimoth Patuxet Museums · About 8 minutes · grades 1–3

The Wampanoag Way

Meet two Wampanoag girls and explore connections between their lives today and the history shared at the museum. Present-day Wampanoag people have modern lives as well as deep connections to their communities’ traditions.

Open video with its publisher ↗ · Source & teaching context ↗

Watch, pause, and discuss
  1. What do the children do today?
  2. What knowledge do they share about the past?
  3. Name one change and one connection across time.

Take a virtual field trip

Context image for Aquinnah: a living homeland. The visit page identifies the image.Aquinnah: a living homelandVineyard & CapeContext image for Cape Cod: a changing coast. The visit page identifies the image.Cape Cod: a changing coastVineyard & Cape
All field trips →

Investigate with an interactive

Aquinnah cliffs in Wampanoag homelands today.Living Native nationsNative nationsShell beads made by Aquinnah Wampanoag artist Elizabeth James-Perry.Wampum: material, skill, and meaningNative nations
All history interactives →
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