Wampanoag

American  

[wahm-puh-noh-ag, wahm-puh-nawg] / ˌwɑm pəˈnoʊ æg, ˌwɑm pəˈnɔg /

noun

PLURAL

Wampanoags

PLURAL

Wampanoag

1. a member of a once-powerful North American Indian people who inhabited the area east of Narragansett Bay from Rhode Island to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket at the time of the Pilgrim settlement.

2. the Eastern Algonquian speech of the Wampanoag people, a dialect of Massachusett.

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Etymology

Origin of Wampanoag

An Americanism dating back to 1670–80, from Narragansett (spoken in Rhode Island, west of the Wampanoag); literally “those of the east; easterners,” equivalent to Proto-Algonquian *wa·pan ( w )- “dawn” + -o·w- “person of” + *-aki plural suffix

Example Sentences

Thanksgiving is thought to be modeled on a 1621 harvest meal between the Wampanoag people and English colonists known as Pilgrims.

From Barron's

Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving for more than 400 years, beginning in 1621 when the Pilgrims and Wampanoag came together for their famous feast.

From The Wall Street Journal

It pushes back on the narrative that the first Thanksgiving was a happy meal between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.

From Salon

Last year’s parade added a float designed in consultation with Wampanoag artists and clan mothers.

From New York Times

The Mashpee Wampanoag have lived on Cape Cod for thousands of years, and have 170 acres of reservation land within the boundaries of Mashpee.

From New York Times