The flag of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, right, flies at half-staff on Thursday, November 25, 2021 — Thanksgiving — while the United States flag and Massachusetts state flag fly at the top of their flagpoles. The three flags are flying at Veterans Garden at Mashpee Community Park in Mashpee, Massachusetts. Photo by Patrick McDonald.
While most Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving today, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Cape Cod is marking National Day of Mourning.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe flags are flying at half-staff at several sites in the town of Mashpee, where the tribe is headquartered.
Those sites include the Mashpee Rotary, Veterans Garden at Mashpee Community Park off Great Neck Road North, and the tribal government center off Great Neck Road South. Three flags are flying today at each place: the United States flag (which is at the top of the flagpole), the Massachusetts state flag (which is at or near the top of the flagpole), and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe flag.
The tribal flag at Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum off Route 130 is flying at the top of its flagpole, which does not appear to accommodate the half-staff position. The tribal flag is the only flag flying at that site.
This year is the 400th since the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth in October 1621 — along with neighboring Wampanoags, who made it possible for the Pilgrims to survive their first year in what for them was a New World.
A spokesman for the tribe could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.
The tribe posted a message on its Facebook page on Wednesday, November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, from Brian Weeden, tribe chairman:
“With so many Americans celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, we ask you to remember that it is also a National Day of Mourning for our people. We ask you to share with others our continued fight to preserve our culture and protect our land.”
A message from Weeden on the tribe’s web site recalls the first Thanksgiving 400 years ago with regret:
“The Thanksgiving holiday is a bitter reminder of a history that attempted to extinguish our culture and broken promises that have inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on our Tribal Nation. Today, we continue to feel the harm of federal policies that have fallen short of the promise to protect our land.”
Neither message mentions flying the tribal flag at half-staff, which the tribe has done in the past after tragedies.
The tribe is trying to secure approval in Congress of a bill that would make it possible for the tribe to build a casino in Taunton.
The middle flag at half-staff is the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe flag, at Mashpee Rotary, on Thursday, November 25, 2021. The ‘Happy’ in the foreground is the first word of ‘Happy Holidays.’ Photo by Patrick McDonald.
A closeup of the flag of the Mashpee Wampanoag flag flying from a flagpole at Veterans Garden at Mashpee Community Park off Great Neck Road North in Mashpee, Massachusetts on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Photo by Brendan McDonald.
The tribal flag, left, flies at half-staff at the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s community and government center off Great Neck Road South in Mashpee, Massachusetts on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Photo by M.J. McDonald.
The tribal flag flies at the top of the flagpole at Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum on Route 130 in Mashpee, Massachusetts on Thursday, November 25, 2021. The flagpole doesn’t appear to accommodate the half-staff position. Photo by M.J. McDonald.
The flag of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, right, flies at half-staff on Thursday, November 25, 2021 — Thanksgiving — while the United States flag and Massachusetts state flag fly at the top of their flagpoles. The three flags are flying at Veterans Garden at Mashpee Community Park in Mashpee, Massachusetts. Photo by Patrick McDonald. 
