The land beneath our school
We learn at MVPCS in West Tisbury, on Noepe—Martha’s Vineyard. The school has a beginning. The land’s human history reaches much further back.
What can this place teach us?
Start with Wampanoag voices. Then compare maps, photographs, and records. Ask what each source shows, whose voice it carries, and what we still do not know.
1996The school opened on September 16.
1972A USGS map shows woodland at the future campus.
1698The oldest map in this collection shows the wider island.
Land acknowledgment begins with listening
A land acknowledgment names Indigenous peoples’ relationship with a place and recognizes their continuing presence. Learning, respectful relationships, and action give those words meaning.
We learn at Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School on Noepe, the ancestral and continuing homeland of Wampanoag people. We recognize Wampanoag communities today and their enduring relationships with this land and its waters. We commit to learning from Wampanoag voices, caring for this place, and checking the stories we share.
Classroom draft for discussion—not an official statement adopted by MVPCS or endorsed by a Tribal Nation. Develop any public acknowledgment through school leadership and respectful consultation with the relevant Wampanoag community.
A living homeland
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) describes at least 10,000 years of Wampanoag presence on Noepe. Wampanoag people, communities, and governments are part of the island today. Colonial maps are one kind of evidence; they do not mark the beginning of this history.
Read the Tribe’s own history ↗The Tribe’s environmental work includes island-wide water-quality education and climate planning. Its outreach page connects care for land and water with the lives of people across Noepe.
Learn about Wampanoag environmental work ↗
Know the difference
- Homeland
- A people’s enduring cultural and historical relationship with a place.
- Town boundary
- A line showing an area of local government.
- Assessor parcel
- A mapped lot used in property records. Its outline is not a legal survey.
- Evidence
- A source we examine to support or question a claim.
A modern ownership record does not erase Wampanoag history. An island-wide history also does not prove that a specific village or building stood at the exact school footprint.
Explore the evidence and its limits →Listen. Learn. Care. Follow through.
- Read a source created by a Wampanoag community.
- Check the name, date, and location of a historical source.
- Choose one useful action to care for our school’s land or water.
- Return to the action later and ask what changed.
Research snapshot: September 23, 2026. The newest acquired aerial is from 2025. Original documents, catalog notes, and source images retain their original language.
Aquinnah: a living homeland
Martha’s Vineyard Museum