Paula Peters and Earl Mills on: "Mashpee Nine" 1976 law enforcement power abuse and cultural justice

This L.I.N.K. event, free of charge, brings to life the 1976 story of the Mashpee Nine, nine young men celebrating their cultural heritage who were brutally arrested by 30 police officers in riot gear, after someone called the police. The many newcomers to Mashpee at that time had little understanding of Wampanoag cultural traditions. Ultimately acquitted at trial, the Mashpee Nine offer an inspirational story of courage and cultural survival.

Earl "Chiefie" Mills Jr. is one of the nine men arrested in the 1976 raid. Recently retired from a 32-year United States Postal Service career, Chiefie now works part-time as the Land Care Manager for the Native Land Conservancy. As a young man, he earned a degree at U Mass in
plant and soil sciences. An enthusiastic gardener, he pursues a passion for wild and cultivated plants with a particular interest in indigenous plants. Chiefie has been a member of the American Indian Movement since 1973. He is a former chairman and board member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and was recently asked to serve as the Tribe’s Chief.

Paula Peters is the executive producer of the 2016 film Mashpee Nine and author of the companion book, a story of law enforcement abuse of power and cultural justice in the Wampanoag community in 1976. Paula is a politically, socially and culturally active citizen of the
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. For more than a decade she worked as a journalist for the Cape Cod Times and is now co-owner of SmokeSygnals, a Native-owned and operated creative production agency. She works part-time as the programs and communications coordinator for the Native Land Conservancy. As an independent scholar and writer of Native, and particularly Wampanoag history, she produced the traveling exhibit "Our"Story: 400 Years of Wampanoag History and The Wampum Belt Project documenting the art and tradition of wampum in the contemporary Wampanoag community. In 2020, she wrote the introduction to the 400 th Anniversary Edition of William Bradford’s, Of Plimoth Plantation.
The program, the fifth in the "2024 Educational Series," is sponsored by L.I.N.K. (Linking Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Knowledge) in collaboration with UU Falmouth (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth). The Series is supported by The Fund for Science, The
Falmouth Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation, and Cape and Islands United Way. Held monthly, the free series covers a range of topics chosen in consultation with Elders and teachers in the Mashpee and Aquinnah Tribes. L.I.N.K.'s mission is to raise awareness among Cape Cod residents of the Wampanoag people as the Indigenous people of the land; their culture; and the hard realities of their history.
More information is available at L.I.N.K.’s website, linkcapecod.org and at UU Falmouth’s website, uuffm.org or uufalmouth.org.



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Category: Community | Local / Community

Artists / Speakers: Paula Peters, Earl "Chiefie" Mills