Walking the Cape Cod Camino
Walking the Cape Cod Camino
An exercise in reflecting on systemic racism in a privileged community
WELLFLEET — In the middle of the current racism pandemic, many of us who are not black or brown — who do not worry that our sons will be murdered while jogging — are wondering what we can do.
One white woman from Brewster, Peggy Jablonski, spent eight Wednesdays this summer walking all 15 towns of the Cape on a personal journey to reflect on racial injustice. Beginning at the Canal on July 8 and concluding in Provincetown on Aug. 26, she welcomed others to join her on the “Cape Cod Camino,” fashioned on the Camino de Santiago, the “way of St. James” pilgrimage in Spain.
I joined the Wellfleet portion in week seven, walking five miles from the bike path parking lot in South Wellfleet to Ocean View Drive, then along Cahoon Hollow Road, across Route 6, and up Main Street, ending at Preservation Hall. Though I was drawn to the idea of the walk, an opportunity to spend time with like-minded others and an exercise challenge, I worried that a stroll along beautiful Cape Cod byways smacked of white privilege. Black men were being shot, Covid deaths in communities of color continued to soar, and we were going for a walk?
But the intentions of the walkers moved me. We were to think about the places where we walked, to reflect on the systemic racism built into our communities of privilege, to educate ourselves, and to commit to change.

Each week had a different theme; week seven’s focus was black, indigenous, and people of color in the arts. We learned about Robin Joyce Miller’s fabric art and Pamela Chaterton-Purdy’s mixed-media icons of the civil rights movement, on display at the Zion Union Heritage Museum in Hyannis. We heard poetry by Joy Harjo, the first Native American Poet Laureate of the U.S. We were introduced to visual artists Shirin Neshat of Iran, and Aaqil Ka of Brooklyn, when our youngest walker displayed their work via her phone. We acknowledged the Wampanoag land over which we were passing.
We were also asked to pay attention to our bodies. Before LeCount Hollow Road turned left to become Ocean View Drive, my breathing became labored when I talked and walked at the speed of the others. The oldest in the group, I was humbled to realize I was the slowest.
When the walk ended, we were encouraged to participate in follow-up reflections on the pilgrimage. To my surprise, this was where the work deepened.
I grew up in the South with racism I couldn’t accept but which I certainly understood. What surprised and saddened me was the racism I discovered when I moved to Cape Cod. The Mason-Dixon Line didn’t divide attitudes in the past, just as it doesn’t today. The Cape’s history, like the South’s, is America’s history, rooted in slavery.
The deeper work of the Cape Cod Camino was finding these historical truths. Provincetown benefited from the salt cod industry that fed enslaved people on plantations in the Caribbean. The mansions of ship captains, today charming bed-and-breakfast inns, were built with shipping wealth directly tied to slavery. After slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts, a strong anti-abolitionist movement took root here. During an 1848 anti-slavery convention in Harwich, 2,000 people stormed the meeting and ran the abolitionists out of town.
Times changed, and, 12 years later, the Cape Cod Anti-Slavery Convention in Harwich Exchange Hall insisted on “immediate and unconditional abolition.” Historian James Coogan has noted that the Cape’s history of slavery and its changing attitude towards abolition remains an “ambivalent legacy” whose scars are still felt in our communities today.
My husband and I have a sign in our yard, “Black Lives Matter to Cape Codders,” distributed by Indivisible. Someone tried to remove it from its wire holder, but, unable to pull it loose, simply tossed it onto another part of our lawn. Did someone want it for a souvenir? Probably not.
Our challenge remains to have conversations with our friends and neighbors, and even our families, about the need for racial justice. Maybe taking a walk is a good place to begin.
Candace Perry writes plays, short stories, and essays.
Lessons Learned from the Cape Cod Camino Way
Lessons Learned from the Cape Cod Camino Way
As we’ve reported, the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May spurred protests around the country, and across the Cape, the Coast and the Islands against police brutality and systemic racism.
Brewster resident Peggy Jablonski was moved to explore her home of Cape Cod, this time through the lens of racism and issues affecting people of color.
She called it the Cape Cod Camino Way, after a pilgrimage in Spain. Her weekly walks recently ended, and CAI’s Kathryn Eident talked with her to ask her how it went.
Jablonski It was an amazing, deeply touching, really profound experience to spend eight weeks walking through every town on Cape Cod, trying to be fully aware and present to, you know, whatever we were able to see, and people that we were able to talk to and listen to their stories. We learned about the economy, health care, we are housing all these issues related to Black and Indigenous people of color perspectives.
Eident And just remind us, after the death of George Floyd, amid protests both on the Cape and around the country, you were inspired to put together a series of walks and they took you throughout the region, and you invited people to join you.
Jablonski Yes. I basically started with the Cape Cod Canal and structured an experience where people could join one or more. And we walked between 10 and 15 miles on every Wednesday and shared historical facts about the area. I actually had over 40 people participate in one or more of the walks or they met us at one of the sites.
Eident I’m sure you learned so much, but is there something that really struck you that you learned while you were on these walks?
Jablonski I’d say a couple of things. One is to be a really critical consumer of history and the information that we’re being provided, whether it’s through the school system or, you know, our historical site. So, for example, in my own town of Brewster, I dug deeper into the story of the sea captains and: Were any involved in the slave trade? I found the answer was: Probably yes.
And also, that the entire economy of not just Brewster, but all of Cape Cod, had a connection to the slave trade because we help feed the slaves by sending our salt, cod and herring down to the Caribbean. That’s something I just didn’t know. So, I think it’s important that we all understand our connections to issues around Black, Indigenous and people of color, because I did have a couple of people ask me, “Why are you doing this? We don’t really have any issues on Cape Cod.” And what I realized was just by walking every week doing the research, sharing it with people that a lot of people were open to just understanding more.
Eident What was the makeup of the group? You said you had a few dozen people join, at least part, if not all of the walks that you had.
Jablonski The overwhelming majority were women in their 50s, 60s, 70s. Most of them were people who were one or two steps removed and found out about the project through a civic organization, a church, my Facebook page. At least half a dozen people went on several walks and had their own commitment build towards continuing to learn more about racism issues, about the perspectives of the Wampanoag tribe, etc.. So, I felt that being a role model just about how to be a critical consumer was really, you know, a way that I could contribute. There were a few few people of color who joined, especially the day that I walked from the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum to the Zion Heritage Museum. So that was a wonderful experience.
Eident And, now that this has concluded, what’s next? What now?
Jablonski I need to continue to explore how to take the lessons learned from the walks and share those with other groups. I’m gonna try to speak with different civic organizations, churches, etc. I want to write about the project and encourage people to take their own local area and go figure out whose story has not been told yet, or what do they need to understand to better be aware of what’s in their backyard. And then I, you know, I reaffirmed my love for Cape Cod and really a desire to make it an even better place to celebrate all of the people who live here.
Eident Thank you so much for checking in and letting us know how your series of walks went over the summer.
Jablonski Well, thank you, Kathryn, for your interest and I look forward to continuing this work.
—
If you want to see videos of Jablonski’s walks you can see them here on the Cape Cod Camino Way on Facebook. You can also hear a previous conversation with Jablonski talking about her inspiration for the walk below.
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 7 BLOG: Wellfleet to Truro, 12 miles (Hills!)
of the night forever and ever
Black is what brings light.


AN INDIAN WOMAN
A WAMPANOAG
WHOSE FAMILY AND TRIBE
GAVE OF THEMSELVES
AND THEIR LAND
THAT THIS GREAT NATION
MIGHT BE BORN AND GROW REINTERRED HERE MAY 30, 1976
WAMPANOAG TRIBAL COUNCIL
WELLFLEET HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 6 BLOG: Exploring our History and Environmental Issues

- · In 1755 archives, Thomas Clark of the Brewster gristmill fame left in his will “little Negro Molly” to his wife.
- · In 1760, Benjamin Bangs noted in his diary his “Negro Oliver” was sold for 39 pounds. Bangs lived across the street from First Parish UU, and his home eventually became the parsonage. There is also a bill of sale from Bangs for Sarah for 25 pounds- included a warranty of sorts, if she had TB, the buyer could recover his money.

Cape Cod Camino Way Week 6 : Health Care: physical, psychological and spiritual health


COMMUNITY COUNTS: Week 5 Don’t just stand there: Do something!
In his 2017 book Across That Bridge, John Lewis, the Civil Rights hero who died last Friday, wrote, “Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
Amid all the passionate words poured out by a heartbroken nation in the days since Lewis’ death, my heart was touched most deeply by his own words – challenging us to DO something – not to hope, or even to pray, though those actions may bring comfort, but to do our part to create the change we want and need.
The quote also brought to mind a refrain I’ve heard frequently since George Floyd’s murder brought on our current national convulsions toward racial justice. Or rather, a refrain I’ve heard from white people: “I want to do something, but I don’t know what.” Or variations thereof.
As noted in my column last month, we may gain some sense of accomplishment by showing up at public programs and protests, by speaking up among friends and co-workers, or by – ahem – writing columns about the enormity of the problem. But at the end of the day, it’s the hard work of systemic change that must take place, and how do we do that?
Peggy Jablonski, an educational consultant of Brewster, found one answer to that question. She had hoped to spend part of her summer hiking El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. Known popularly as the Camino, it actually comprises numerous pilgrimage routes ranging from 60 to over 600 miles. It is walked or biked by growing throngs of people seeking spiritual growth and insight, or a host of other purposes. The Camino has been traversed by pilgrims and seekers since the Middle Ages.
Obviously, Peggy’s plans were thwarted by the pandemic. Like most of us, as she absorbed the shocking impact of the Coronavirus, she was also moved deeply by the outpouring of rage and demands for change sparked by the murder of George Floyd. She too was gripped by the question: “What can I do?”
In part, Peggy Jablonski came to the realization that her education about the history of people of color in these United States was impoverished, to say the least. In our schools, we learn little about the accomplishments of Black and Native people, nor about the misdeeds of Whites in relation to racial justice.
Jablonski decided to expand her own education, and perhaps that of others, by creating her own Camino right here on Cape Cod. Minimal research revealed that the Cape encompasses dozens of locations, historical markers, and educational opportunities to learn about struggles for justice and the histories of African-American, Cape Verdean, Wampanoag and other peoples of color here on this fragile peninsula. So she designed her own Camino – on eight Wednesdays in July and August, to walk the length of Cape Cod while focusing on these histories in plain sight but little known.
On the first Wednesday, July 8, the walk traversed both sides of the Cape Cod Canal, and the second, July 15, the Shining Sea Path, a seaside road first carved into the landscape by the Wampanoag people along Buzzards Bay. Each week focuses on particular themes, developed through advance reading and enhanced along the way by visits to historical locations and talks with local experts.
This past Wednesday, the route went from Mashpee to Hyannis, including visits to the Wampanoag Museum and the Zion Union Heritage Museum, including talks with local NAACP leader and Zion Museum Director John Reed and some of the artists whose work is displayed there. Next Wednesday, the walk begins at Cape Cod Community College and continues to Yarmouth and Dennis, focusing on education, poverty and food insecurity.
Peggy invites participation in any part or all of the rest of her pilgrimage. For more information, search on Facebook for “Cape Cod Camino Way” and ask to join the group. You’ll see abundant detail about the pilgrimage thus far and plans for the remaining Wednesday walks, as well as other activities through the last walk on Aug. 26 and additional discussions, both in person and via Facebook live. All in-person activities require masks and social distancing.
Don’t just stand there. DO something!
Kathleen Schatzberg is a former president of Cape Cod Community College. Her company Bearwell Strategies specializes in writing, editing and pet care. Her monthly column chronicles community building on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Camino Way Project: Week 2
Each week I prepare an itinerary for the walk that includes quotes from relevant writings, songs, poems, prayers, etc. I want to make the walk inspirational for anyone who joins me and for those of you following via the blog or the Facebook page. I chose to focus this week on the contributions of women and people of color in science due to the myriad of research and science-based institutions in Woods Hole.
inlets we were walking. When will we be able to travel internationally again? We also talked about good books, and I shared a current favorite: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Trained traditionally as a botanist, Kimmerer brings the lenses of her Native Potawatomi background and ecological consciousness to understand the earth and her plants. She weaves together her science background with deep wisdom from indigenous knowledge. For both enlightening and engaging summer reading, treat yourself and others to a copy of Braiding Sweetgrass.
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 3: The Wampanoags, The Arts and People of Color, Zion Heritage Museum

- Before the Pilgrims arrived, traders from Europe brought yellow fever to the Northeast coast and 2/3 of the Wampanoag nation (estimated at 45,000) died.
- When the colonists, the Pilgrims landed on Cape Cod in 1620, the Wampanoags were settled in Southeastern MA, the Cape, Eastern Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
- In 1655 Harvard opened the Indian College to educate Indian youth and convert them to Christianity.
- In 1675 over 40% of the tribal population was killed in King Phillips War (between the colonists and the Native Americans) and large numbers of healthy males were sold into slavery. Some women and children were also enslaved by colonists in New England.
- In 1685 Plymouth Colony confirmed a deed to tribal leaders of 25 square miles of land and subsequently appoints guardians to limit the Tribe’s independence. Ironically, the King of England sided with the Tribe and Mashpee is recognized as a self-governing Indian District.
- In the Boston Massacre in 1770 Crispus Attucks, a Wampanoag is killed. Many Wampanoags fight in the American Revolution on behalf of independence.
- By the mid 1800s the Massachusetts legislature revokes the Tribe’s governing authority, and in 1869 members of the Tribe are made citizens of the state. In 1870 the MA Legislature conveys 5000 acres in tribal ownership to create the town of Mashpee.
- The Wampanoags cultivated varieties of the “three sisters” (Maize or corn, beans, and squash) as the staples of their diet, with fish and game as supplements. They had a matrilineal system, in which women controlled property and hereditary status was passed through the maternal line. They were also matrifocal, meaning a married couple went to live with the woman’s family. Women elders approved the selection of chiefs or sachems. Women had socio-political, economic and spiritual roles in their communities.

Cape Cod Camino Way Project. Week 1

- We explored our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to ask important questions about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
- What rights exist for all peoples? What rights are denied?
- When did Black, Indigenous and People of Color give their consent to be governed- when their lands were taken from them? When they were in chains in slavery?
- “All men are created equal”. If the use of the term “men” in 1776 included all people as it normally did that would mean women and those enslaved and the natives who were here before the Europeans colonized these lands would be covered by that term. Why does “men” sometimes mean all people, and in the case of our founding Declaration only mean white, privileged men?


Eight Principles for a Restorative Retreat in 2020 (even just 24 hours!)
Too busy to take time for R and R? Too many meetings, projects, family demands, mind-numbing news cycles? Creating space in your scheduled life to retreat and reflect (as well as relax and rejuvenate) can be a true challenge but a fabulous gift to yourself. And you deserve it! Once you give yourself the space, 24 hours or a full week or more away, the benefits will build exponentially.
To create the opportunity to expand into a new decade from a place of awareness and choice is a powerful commitment to yourself. Try starting with just 24 hours, incorporating as many of the 8 principles outlined below as you desire. Then in another month or two, expand to a weekend. After 6 months, commit to a 4-7 day retreat for yourself. This is a good way to build momentum toward positive self-care and awareness.
1. Stillness. Use the 24 hours to not “do” much of anything related to the outside world, which includes family and all electronics. Try spending time with simple pleasures, cooking a healthy meal, meditation, suing a sauna or taking a long bath, and walking for at least an hour in nature.
2. Sleep. Adequate sleep is the foundation for all health and wellness. Prepare yourself and your surroundings for a full night’s rest.
3. Movement. Paradoxically, move during your stillness period. Move your body slower than normal- if you run, then walk instead, especially in nature. Move your body to increase your oxygen flowing to all your organs, including your brain.
4. Read. Instead of reading your email, news, or Facebook, read a novel, poetry, or a biography of someone you admire. Take a break and escape into a good book.
5. Nature. Being in nature is therapeutic for our minds, bodies and spirits. We are reminded of the wonder and beauty in the natural world and in our connection to the world around us.
6. Nurture. Practice self-care (think massage, yoga, warm bath) not self-indulgence. Simple mind/body awareness from breathing and centering practices found online at OM.org or Yoga Journal will inform your self-care.
7. Nourish. Eat clean. By eliminating hard to digest processed foods, filled with chemicals, your body will thank you. Try eliminating wheat, dairy, meat and sugar for a few days around your retreat and notice any differences in your body.
8. Gratitude. Use some of your 24 hours to give thanks to yourself, your family and friends, co-workers, spiritual leaders and influential mentors and guides in your past. Consider sending a card to one or two of these people to thank them for their impact on your life.
Through the use of one, many or all of the 8 essentials for a retreat experience, your will provide the environment for restoration of your mind/body/spirit. Before you dash off a dozen goals for 2020 or for the decade ahead, consider downshifting with the R and R practices here to inform your “being” before you think about “doing”. I promise you, the outcome will look and feel different for you and enhance your life moving forward.
Happy retreating, reflecting and rejuvenating!
Walking the Cape Cod Camino
Walking the Cape Cod Camino
An exercise in reflecting on systemic racism in a privileged community
WELLFLEET — In the middle of the current racism pandemic, many of us who are not black or brown — who do not worry that our sons will be murdered while jogging — are wondering what we can do.
One white woman from Brewster, Peggy Jablonski, spent eight Wednesdays this summer walking all 15 towns of the Cape on a personal journey to reflect on racial injustice. Beginning at the Canal on July 8 and concluding in Provincetown on Aug. 26, she welcomed others to join her on the “Cape Cod Camino,” fashioned on the Camino de Santiago, the “way of St. James” pilgrimage in Spain.
I joined the Wellfleet portion in week seven, walking five miles from the bike path parking lot in South Wellfleet to Ocean View Drive, then along Cahoon Hollow Road, across Route 6, and up Main Street, ending at Preservation Hall. Though I was drawn to the idea of the walk, an opportunity to spend time with like-minded others and an exercise challenge, I worried that a stroll along beautiful Cape Cod byways smacked of white privilege. Black men were being shot, Covid deaths in communities of color continued to soar, and we were going for a walk?
But the intentions of the walkers moved me. We were to think about the places where we walked, to reflect on the systemic racism built into our communities of privilege, to educate ourselves, and to commit to change.

Each week had a different theme; week seven’s focus was black, indigenous, and people of color in the arts. We learned about Robin Joyce Miller’s fabric art and Pamela Chaterton-Purdy’s mixed-media icons of the civil rights movement, on display at the Zion Union Heritage Museum in Hyannis. We heard poetry by Joy Harjo, the first Native American Poet Laureate of the U.S. We were introduced to visual artists Shirin Neshat of Iran, and Aaqil Ka of Brooklyn, when our youngest walker displayed their work via her phone. We acknowledged the Wampanoag land over which we were passing.
We were also asked to pay attention to our bodies. Before LeCount Hollow Road turned left to become Ocean View Drive, my breathing became labored when I talked and walked at the speed of the others. The oldest in the group, I was humbled to realize I was the slowest.
When the walk ended, we were encouraged to participate in follow-up reflections on the pilgrimage. To my surprise, this was where the work deepened.
I grew up in the South with racism I couldn’t accept but which I certainly understood. What surprised and saddened me was the racism I discovered when I moved to Cape Cod. The Mason-Dixon Line didn’t divide attitudes in the past, just as it doesn’t today. The Cape’s history, like the South’s, is America’s history, rooted in slavery.
The deeper work of the Cape Cod Camino was finding these historical truths. Provincetown benefited from the salt cod industry that fed enslaved people on plantations in the Caribbean. The mansions of ship captains, today charming bed-and-breakfast inns, were built with shipping wealth directly tied to slavery. After slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts, a strong anti-abolitionist movement took root here. During an 1848 anti-slavery convention in Harwich, 2,000 people stormed the meeting and ran the abolitionists out of town.
Times changed, and, 12 years later, the Cape Cod Anti-Slavery Convention in Harwich Exchange Hall insisted on “immediate and unconditional abolition.” Historian James Coogan has noted that the Cape’s history of slavery and its changing attitude towards abolition remains an “ambivalent legacy” whose scars are still felt in our communities today.
My husband and I have a sign in our yard, “Black Lives Matter to Cape Codders,” distributed by Indivisible. Someone tried to remove it from its wire holder, but, unable to pull it loose, simply tossed it onto another part of our lawn. Did someone want it for a souvenir? Probably not.
Our challenge remains to have conversations with our friends and neighbors, and even our families, about the need for racial justice. Maybe taking a walk is a good place to begin.
Candace Perry writes plays, short stories, and essays.
Lessons Learned from the Cape Cod Camino Way
Lessons Learned from the Cape Cod Camino Way
As we’ve reported, the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May spurred protests around the country, and across the Cape, the Coast and the Islands against police brutality and systemic racism.
Brewster resident Peggy Jablonski was moved to explore her home of Cape Cod, this time through the lens of racism and issues affecting people of color.
She called it the Cape Cod Camino Way, after a pilgrimage in Spain. Her weekly walks recently ended, and CAI’s Kathryn Eident talked with her to ask her how it went.
Jablonski It was an amazing, deeply touching, really profound experience to spend eight weeks walking through every town on Cape Cod, trying to be fully aware and present to, you know, whatever we were able to see, and people that we were able to talk to and listen to their stories. We learned about the economy, health care, we are housing all these issues related to Black and Indigenous people of color perspectives.
Eident And just remind us, after the death of George Floyd, amid protests both on the Cape and around the country, you were inspired to put together a series of walks and they took you throughout the region, and you invited people to join you.
Jablonski Yes. I basically started with the Cape Cod Canal and structured an experience where people could join one or more. And we walked between 10 and 15 miles on every Wednesday and shared historical facts about the area. I actually had over 40 people participate in one or more of the walks or they met us at one of the sites.
Eident I’m sure you learned so much, but is there something that really struck you that you learned while you were on these walks?
Jablonski I’d say a couple of things. One is to be a really critical consumer of history and the information that we’re being provided, whether it’s through the school system or, you know, our historical site. So, for example, in my own town of Brewster, I dug deeper into the story of the sea captains and: Were any involved in the slave trade? I found the answer was: Probably yes.
And also, that the entire economy of not just Brewster, but all of Cape Cod, had a connection to the slave trade because we help feed the slaves by sending our salt, cod and herring down to the Caribbean. That’s something I just didn’t know. So, I think it’s important that we all understand our connections to issues around Black, Indigenous and people of color, because I did have a couple of people ask me, “Why are you doing this? We don’t really have any issues on Cape Cod.” And what I realized was just by walking every week doing the research, sharing it with people that a lot of people were open to just understanding more.
Eident What was the makeup of the group? You said you had a few dozen people join, at least part, if not all of the walks that you had.
Jablonski The overwhelming majority were women in their 50s, 60s, 70s. Most of them were people who were one or two steps removed and found out about the project through a civic organization, a church, my Facebook page. At least half a dozen people went on several walks and had their own commitment build towards continuing to learn more about racism issues, about the perspectives of the Wampanoag tribe, etc.. So, I felt that being a role model just about how to be a critical consumer was really, you know, a way that I could contribute. There were a few few people of color who joined, especially the day that I walked from the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum to the Zion Heritage Museum. So that was a wonderful experience.
Eident And, now that this has concluded, what’s next? What now?
Jablonski I need to continue to explore how to take the lessons learned from the walks and share those with other groups. I’m gonna try to speak with different civic organizations, churches, etc. I want to write about the project and encourage people to take their own local area and go figure out whose story has not been told yet, or what do they need to understand to better be aware of what’s in their backyard. And then I, you know, I reaffirmed my love for Cape Cod and really a desire to make it an even better place to celebrate all of the people who live here.
Eident Thank you so much for checking in and letting us know how your series of walks went over the summer.
Jablonski Well, thank you, Kathryn, for your interest and I look forward to continuing this work.
—
If you want to see videos of Jablonski’s walks you can see them here on the Cape Cod Camino Way on Facebook. You can also hear a previous conversation with Jablonski talking about her inspiration for the walk below.
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 7 BLOG: Wellfleet to Truro, 12 miles (Hills!)
of the night forever and ever
Black is what brings light.


AN INDIAN WOMAN
A WAMPANOAG
WHOSE FAMILY AND TRIBE
GAVE OF THEMSELVES
AND THEIR LAND
THAT THIS GREAT NATION
MIGHT BE BORN AND GROW REINTERRED HERE MAY 30, 1976
WAMPANOAG TRIBAL COUNCIL
WELLFLEET HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 6 BLOG: Exploring our History and Environmental Issues

- · In 1755 archives, Thomas Clark of the Brewster gristmill fame left in his will “little Negro Molly” to his wife.
- · In 1760, Benjamin Bangs noted in his diary his “Negro Oliver” was sold for 39 pounds. Bangs lived across the street from First Parish UU, and his home eventually became the parsonage. There is also a bill of sale from Bangs for Sarah for 25 pounds- included a warranty of sorts, if she had TB, the buyer could recover his money.

Cape Cod Camino Way Week 6 : Health Care: physical, psychological and spiritual health


COMMUNITY COUNTS: Week 5 Don’t just stand there: Do something!
In his 2017 book Across That Bridge, John Lewis, the Civil Rights hero who died last Friday, wrote, “Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
Amid all the passionate words poured out by a heartbroken nation in the days since Lewis’ death, my heart was touched most deeply by his own words – challenging us to DO something – not to hope, or even to pray, though those actions may bring comfort, but to do our part to create the change we want and need.
The quote also brought to mind a refrain I’ve heard frequently since George Floyd’s murder brought on our current national convulsions toward racial justice. Or rather, a refrain I’ve heard from white people: “I want to do something, but I don’t know what.” Or variations thereof.
As noted in my column last month, we may gain some sense of accomplishment by showing up at public programs and protests, by speaking up among friends and co-workers, or by – ahem – writing columns about the enormity of the problem. But at the end of the day, it’s the hard work of systemic change that must take place, and how do we do that?
Peggy Jablonski, an educational consultant of Brewster, found one answer to that question. She had hoped to spend part of her summer hiking El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. Known popularly as the Camino, it actually comprises numerous pilgrimage routes ranging from 60 to over 600 miles. It is walked or biked by growing throngs of people seeking spiritual growth and insight, or a host of other purposes. The Camino has been traversed by pilgrims and seekers since the Middle Ages.
Obviously, Peggy’s plans were thwarted by the pandemic. Like most of us, as she absorbed the shocking impact of the Coronavirus, she was also moved deeply by the outpouring of rage and demands for change sparked by the murder of George Floyd. She too was gripped by the question: “What can I do?”
In part, Peggy Jablonski came to the realization that her education about the history of people of color in these United States was impoverished, to say the least. In our schools, we learn little about the accomplishments of Black and Native people, nor about the misdeeds of Whites in relation to racial justice.
Jablonski decided to expand her own education, and perhaps that of others, by creating her own Camino right here on Cape Cod. Minimal research revealed that the Cape encompasses dozens of locations, historical markers, and educational opportunities to learn about struggles for justice and the histories of African-American, Cape Verdean, Wampanoag and other peoples of color here on this fragile peninsula. So she designed her own Camino – on eight Wednesdays in July and August, to walk the length of Cape Cod while focusing on these histories in plain sight but little known.
On the first Wednesday, July 8, the walk traversed both sides of the Cape Cod Canal, and the second, July 15, the Shining Sea Path, a seaside road first carved into the landscape by the Wampanoag people along Buzzards Bay. Each week focuses on particular themes, developed through advance reading and enhanced along the way by visits to historical locations and talks with local experts.
This past Wednesday, the route went from Mashpee to Hyannis, including visits to the Wampanoag Museum and the Zion Union Heritage Museum, including talks with local NAACP leader and Zion Museum Director John Reed and some of the artists whose work is displayed there. Next Wednesday, the walk begins at Cape Cod Community College and continues to Yarmouth and Dennis, focusing on education, poverty and food insecurity.
Peggy invites participation in any part or all of the rest of her pilgrimage. For more information, search on Facebook for “Cape Cod Camino Way” and ask to join the group. You’ll see abundant detail about the pilgrimage thus far and plans for the remaining Wednesday walks, as well as other activities through the last walk on Aug. 26 and additional discussions, both in person and via Facebook live. All in-person activities require masks and social distancing.
Don’t just stand there. DO something!
Kathleen Schatzberg is a former president of Cape Cod Community College. Her company Bearwell Strategies specializes in writing, editing and pet care. Her monthly column chronicles community building on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod Camino Way Project: Week 2
Each week I prepare an itinerary for the walk that includes quotes from relevant writings, songs, poems, prayers, etc. I want to make the walk inspirational for anyone who joins me and for those of you following via the blog or the Facebook page. I chose to focus this week on the contributions of women and people of color in science due to the myriad of research and science-based institutions in Woods Hole.
inlets we were walking. When will we be able to travel internationally again? We also talked about good books, and I shared a current favorite: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Trained traditionally as a botanist, Kimmerer brings the lenses of her Native Potawatomi background and ecological consciousness to understand the earth and her plants. She weaves together her science background with deep wisdom from indigenous knowledge. For both enlightening and engaging summer reading, treat yourself and others to a copy of Braiding Sweetgrass.
Cape Cod Camino Way Week 3: The Wampanoags, The Arts and People of Color, Zion Heritage Museum

- Before the Pilgrims arrived, traders from Europe brought yellow fever to the Northeast coast and 2/3 of the Wampanoag nation (estimated at 45,000) died.
- When the colonists, the Pilgrims landed on Cape Cod in 1620, the Wampanoags were settled in Southeastern MA, the Cape, Eastern Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
- In 1655 Harvard opened the Indian College to educate Indian youth and convert them to Christianity.
- In 1675 over 40% of the tribal population was killed in King Phillips War (between the colonists and the Native Americans) and large numbers of healthy males were sold into slavery. Some women and children were also enslaved by colonists in New England.
- In 1685 Plymouth Colony confirmed a deed to tribal leaders of 25 square miles of land and subsequently appoints guardians to limit the Tribe’s independence. Ironically, the King of England sided with the Tribe and Mashpee is recognized as a self-governing Indian District.
- In the Boston Massacre in 1770 Crispus Attucks, a Wampanoag is killed. Many Wampanoags fight in the American Revolution on behalf of independence.
- By the mid 1800s the Massachusetts legislature revokes the Tribe’s governing authority, and in 1869 members of the Tribe are made citizens of the state. In 1870 the MA Legislature conveys 5000 acres in tribal ownership to create the town of Mashpee.
- The Wampanoags cultivated varieties of the “three sisters” (Maize or corn, beans, and squash) as the staples of their diet, with fish and game as supplements. They had a matrilineal system, in which women controlled property and hereditary status was passed through the maternal line. They were also matrifocal, meaning a married couple went to live with the woman’s family. Women elders approved the selection of chiefs or sachems. Women had socio-political, economic and spiritual roles in their communities.

Cape Cod Camino Way Project. Week 1

- We explored our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to ask important questions about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
- What rights exist for all peoples? What rights are denied?
- When did Black, Indigenous and People of Color give their consent to be governed- when their lands were taken from them? When they were in chains in slavery?
- “All men are created equal”. If the use of the term “men” in 1776 included all people as it normally did that would mean women and those enslaved and the natives who were here before the Europeans colonized these lands would be covered by that term. Why does “men” sometimes mean all people, and in the case of our founding Declaration only mean white, privileged men?


Eight Principles for a Restorative Retreat in 2020 (even just 24 hours!)
Too busy to take time for R and R? Too many meetings, projects, family demands, mind-numbing news cycles? Creating space in your scheduled life to retreat and reflect (as well as relax and rejuvenate) can be a true challenge but a fabulous gift to yourself. And you deserve it! Once you give yourself the space, 24 hours or a full week or more away, the benefits will build exponentially.
To create the opportunity to expand into a new decade from a place of awareness and choice is a powerful commitment to yourself. Try starting with just 24 hours, incorporating as many of the 8 principles outlined below as you desire. Then in another month or two, expand to a weekend. After 6 months, commit to a 4-7 day retreat for yourself. This is a good way to build momentum toward positive self-care and awareness.
1. Stillness. Use the 24 hours to not “do” much of anything related to the outside world, which includes family and all electronics. Try spending time with simple pleasures, cooking a healthy meal, meditation, suing a sauna or taking a long bath, and walking for at least an hour in nature.
2. Sleep. Adequate sleep is the foundation for all health and wellness. Prepare yourself and your surroundings for a full night’s rest.
3. Movement. Paradoxically, move during your stillness period. Move your body slower than normal- if you run, then walk instead, especially in nature. Move your body to increase your oxygen flowing to all your organs, including your brain.
4. Read. Instead of reading your email, news, or Facebook, read a novel, poetry, or a biography of someone you admire. Take a break and escape into a good book.
5. Nature. Being in nature is therapeutic for our minds, bodies and spirits. We are reminded of the wonder and beauty in the natural world and in our connection to the world around us.
6. Nurture. Practice self-care (think massage, yoga, warm bath) not self-indulgence. Simple mind/body awareness from breathing and centering practices found online at OM.org or Yoga Journal will inform your self-care.
7. Nourish. Eat clean. By eliminating hard to digest processed foods, filled with chemicals, your body will thank you. Try eliminating wheat, dairy, meat and sugar for a few days around your retreat and notice any differences in your body.
8. Gratitude. Use some of your 24 hours to give thanks to yourself, your family and friends, co-workers, spiritual leaders and influential mentors and guides in your past. Consider sending a card to one or two of these people to thank them for their impact on your life.
Through the use of one, many or all of the 8 essentials for a retreat experience, your will provide the environment for restoration of your mind/body/spirit. Before you dash off a dozen goals for 2020 or for the decade ahead, consider downshifting with the R and R practices here to inform your “being” before you think about “doing”. I promise you, the outcome will look and feel different for you and enhance your life moving forward.
Happy retreating, reflecting and rejuvenating!