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- Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe
Pocasset Wampanoag Cemetery
Cemeteries at "Indian Town"
There are two (2) documented cemeteries belonging to the Pocasset Wampanoags in the area of the North Watuppa Pond. Today one (1) of these cemeteries is on the Wattupa Reservation inside the Fall River Water Works and has restricted access. This cemetery was documented in 1954 as having 54 gravestones, by 1966 the number of gravestones identified was 12. The most recent documentation indicated there are zero (0) gravestones.
The second cemetery is smaller and is located at "Indian Common" which is located at Blossom Road and Indiantown Road.
In 1942 documentation shows 25-30 gravestones present, in 1996 there were zero (0)
Mystery Investigation
Where did the gravestones go? Who is buried in these cemeteries? The answer is: Unknown
The Watuppa Reservation
In 1709, several decades after the end of King Philip’s War, Benjamin Church granted some of the surviving Native American Indians, among them Nemasket, Pocasset and Sakonnet tribal members, a 200-acre reservation on the Watuppa in the northeastern portion of what is present-day Fall River just north of the town of Westport. This reserve is internationally recognized under law, as outlined in the 1713 treaty of Portsmouth and the 1725 Treaty of Boston.
In 1869, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed the Enfranchisement Act which would dissolve reservation status for Lands held by the tribes and replace it with fee-simple property. This type of designation would have allocated land to individual tribal members who apply to the judge of probate in the county where the lands are located. This Act was successfully resisted as were subsequent attempts to slice up the Watuppa Reservation, leading the resistance then and now, our sister tribe, the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Today, largely due to their effort over the years, the Watuppa is one of the last surviving colonial era Native American Indian Reservations in what is now the United States.
Background
The Pocasset Wampanoag territory is known today as Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, Dartmouth, Swansea, Somerset, Bristol and Tiverton R.I. The Pocasset tribe is recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
They are the direct lineal descendants of Weetamoo, wife of Wamsutta, who was Chief Massasoit's son. Wamsutta was Weetamoo's second husband.
The reservation was established in 1693 when Daniel Wilcox of Fall River was fined for selling rum to Indians and illegally buying land from them. Daniel, not wanting to pay the fine fled to Tiverton R.I. Many years later, now an old and poor man, Daniel offers a land swap to settle the fine. Daniel signed over the deed to 140 acres boarding on the South Watuppa. An additional 40-acre parcel was located on the east shore of the North Wattupa. The colony accepted this offer on November 29, 1701, and Daniel was cleared of the fine.
On February 18, 1704, the Massachusetts General Court set aside two (2) lots deeded from Daniel Wilcox to use for all time for the "Indians" residing in the southern part of Bristol County. This was done in return for services to the crown in recent wars with other Indians.
"Indian Town" is the remnants of 200 acres originally bequeathed to the Natives who fought on the side of the colonists during the war led by King Philip. As more and more white settlers cascaded over that part of Tiverton and Fall River, the Natives eventually traded those parcels for more remote land that Colonel Benjamin Church owned near the Copicut Woods, east of North Watuppa Pond. This parcel containing 195 acres of Indian land, extended to the east shore of the pond up to and across Blossom Road and continued east across Indian Town Road.
City of Fall River & Eminent Domain 1907
On July 22, 1907, the City of Fall River took a portion of the Wampanoag Reservation "for protection" even though it was intended to pass to the heirs of those Indian soldiers "forever." The Fall River City Solicitor filed a legal brief to the Massachusetts Legislature for taking the land. The brief claimed all the Indians have vanished. Which is untrue.
The City of Fall River owned nearly 400 acres to which drained into the North Watuppa Pond, the source of the city's water supply. The plan was to acquire all the land on the shore of the pond, in order to protect the purity of the water. This reduced the Wampanaoag reservation to about 90 acres.
Wampanoag Nation Reservation 1939
In the 1939 the State of Massachusetts was under pressure from federal officials, adopted The Acts of 1939 which provided 227-acres of land in Freetown/Fall River State Forest to compensate the "Wampanoags" for the land the was taken by the City of Fall River in 1907. In 1976, an Executive Order from Governor Dukakis strengthened the Reservation by granting tribal rights to the Wampanoag Nation. The Wampanoag Nation received the land, not the Pocasset tribe specifically.
Land Dispute
For nearly thirty (30) years the Pocasset Wampanoags have struggled to regain control over 96 acres of reservation land east of North Watuppa Pond in Fall River. Adding to the outrage, the Pocasset Wampanoags must get permission of the city’s forester to visit the cemetery on the property. Attempts to resolve the issues have been with many of Fall River mayors, city councilors, state reps and senators, but all to no avail
Complicating the situation is that a portion of the Wampanoag reservation is now located in the conservation area known as the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. The bioreserve consists of the land of Freetown State Forest, the Copicut Woods, controlled by the nonprofit Trustees of Reservations, and the Watuppa Reservation controlled by the City of Fall River.
Cemeteries at "Indian Town"
There are two (2) documented cemeteries belonging to the Pocasset Wampanoags in the area of the North Watuppa Pond. Today one (1) of these cemeteries is on the Wattupa Reservation inside the Fall River Water Works and has restricted access. This cemetery was documented in 1954 as having 54 gravestones, by 1966 the number of gravestones identified was 12. The most recent documentation indicated there are zero (0) gravestones.
The second cemetery is smaller and is located at "Indian Common" which is located at Blossom Road and Indiantown Road.
In 1942 documentation shows 25-30 gravestones present, in 1996 there were zero (0)
Mystery Investigation
Where did the gravestones go? Who is buried in these cemeteries? The answer is: Unknown
The Watuppa Reservation
In 1709, several decades after the end of King Philip’s War, Benjamin Church granted some of the surviving Native American Indians, among them Nemasket, Pocasset and Sakonnet tribal members, a 200-acre reservation on the Watuppa in the northeastern portion of what is present-day Fall River just north of the town of Westport. This reserve is internationally recognized under law, as outlined in the 1713 treaty of Portsmouth and the 1725 Treaty of Boston.
In 1869, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed the Enfranchisement Act which would dissolve reservation status for Lands held by the tribes and replace it with fee-simple property. This type of designation would have allocated land to individual tribal members who apply to the judge of probate in the county where the lands are located. This Act was successfully resisted as were subsequent attempts to slice up the Watuppa Reservation, leading the resistance then and now, our sister tribe, the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Today, largely due to their effort over the years, the Watuppa is one of the last surviving colonial era Native American Indian Reservations in what is now the United States.
Background
The Pocasset Wampanoag territory is known today as Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, Dartmouth, Swansea, Somerset, Bristol and Tiverton R.I. The Pocasset tribe is recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
They are the direct lineal descendants of Weetamoo, wife of Wamsutta, who was Chief Massasoit's son. Wamsutta was Weetamoo's second husband.
The reservation was established in 1693 when Daniel Wilcox of Fall River was fined for selling rum to Indians and illegally buying land from them. Daniel, not wanting to pay the fine fled to Tiverton R.I. Many years later, now an old and poor man, Daniel offers a land swap to settle the fine. Daniel signed over the deed to 140 acres boarding on the South Watuppa. An additional 40-acre parcel was located on the east shore of the North Wattupa. The colony accepted this offer on November 29, 1701, and Daniel was cleared of the fine.
On February 18, 1704, the Massachusetts General Court set aside two (2) lots deeded from Daniel Wilcox to use for all time for the "Indians" residing in the southern part of Bristol County. This was done in return for services to the crown in recent wars with other Indians.
"Indian Town" is the remnants of 200 acres originally bequeathed to the Natives who fought on the side of the colonists during the war led by King Philip. As more and more white settlers cascaded over that part of Tiverton and Fall River, the Natives eventually traded those parcels for more remote land that Colonel Benjamin Church owned near the Copicut Woods, east of North Watuppa Pond. This parcel containing 195 acres of Indian land, extended to the east shore of the pond up to and across Blossom Road and continued east across Indian Town Road.
City of Fall River & Eminent Domain 1907
On July 22, 1907, the City of Fall River took a portion of the Wampanoag Reservation "for protection" even though it was intended to pass to the heirs of those Indian soldiers "forever." The Fall River City Solicitor filed a legal brief to the Massachusetts Legislature for taking the land. The brief claimed all the Indians have vanished. Which is untrue.
The City of Fall River owned nearly 400 acres to which drained into the North Watuppa Pond, the source of the city's water supply. The plan was to acquire all the land on the shore of the pond, in order to protect the purity of the water. This reduced the Wampanaoag reservation to about 90 acres.
Wampanoag Nation Reservation 1939
In the 1939 the State of Massachusetts was under pressure from federal officials, adopted The Acts of 1939 which provided 227-acres of land in Freetown/Fall River State Forest to compensate the "Wampanoags" for the land the was taken by the City of Fall River in 1907. In 1976, an Executive Order from Governor Dukakis strengthened the Reservation by granting tribal rights to the Wampanoag Nation. The Wampanoag Nation received the land, not the Pocasset tribe specifically.
Land Dispute
For nearly thirty (30) years the Pocasset Wampanoags have struggled to regain control over 96 acres of reservation land east of North Watuppa Pond in Fall River. Adding to the outrage, the Pocasset Wampanoags must get permission of the city’s forester to visit the cemetery on the property. Attempts to resolve the issues have been with many of Fall River mayors, city councilors, state reps and senators, but all to no avail
Complicating the situation is that a portion of the Wampanoag reservation is now located in the conservation area known as the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. The bioreserve consists of the land of Freetown State Forest, the Copicut Woods, controlled by the nonprofit Trustees of Reservations, and the Watuppa Reservation controlled by the City of Fall River.
The acquisition of this piece of land in 1907 was no simple matter, requiring a controversial petition by the city to the Massachusetts Legislature. This special petition, the granting of which is still being contested today, was necessary because the Legislature's acts of the 1890s authorizing Fall River to take the lands lying within the North Pond watershed did not allow the city to take property that the state held for a different public purpose. The Indian Reservation was, of course, held in trust by the State for the Indians who were occupying that LAND The Indian lands condemned by Fall River in 1907. land. So, on the one hand, the Indian Reservation qualified for taking by the city since it was within the pond's watershed, while on the other hand it failed to qualify because théstate held it for another public purpose—the exclusive use of the Fall River Indians. Not only did this issue have to be resolved, but also the title to these lands was uncertain, it having been conveyed to the Indians in colonial times, and Fall River needed a clear title before it could put the lands to the public use it proposed. A complete account of the issues and arguments attending this proposed land-taking is given by Hugo A. Dubuque in his 1907 history of the Fall River Indian Reservation.
Mr. Dubuque, who was City Solicitor at the time, prepared this history as a legal briefin support of the city's special petition for acquisition of the Indian lands. Mr. Dubuque succinctly States the need for the city's petition as follows [l l]: 29 The maintenance of an Indian Reservation would imply the use of buildings and dwelling houses thereon; whereas the appropriation of land by the city, to prevent the contamination of its water supply, implies that barns, pig pens, outhouses and dwelling houses shall not be erected thereon. Ilwrefore, thc two purposes being practically inconsistent, it requires a clear expression of legislative intent, by a special act, to authorize the city of Fall River to condemn any part of the lands of the Indian Reservation. On July 22, 1907, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a special act authorizing the city ofFall River to acquire the Indian Reservation lands it sought. Origin of the Indian Reservation. How the Fall River Indians came to be settled on the shores of North Watuppa Pond is an involved story. In greatly simplified form, the chronicle is as follows.
the Indians were moved, taking up residence on the easterly shore of North Watuppa pond in 1709. Thus, the Indians living on what eventually came to be known as the Fall River Indian Reservation were remnants of the Pocasset tribe, as their Tiverton roots would indicate.
They were so-called "praying who had become Christians or who had been loyal to the English in their struggles with other Indian tribes (Photo by W Conforti) A defaced monument on Blossom Road marking the site of the Fall River Indian Reservation. (A bronze plaque that was stolen from this monument in the 1960s memorialized Daniel Page, a descendant of the first Pocassets to occupy the Fall River Reservation.
Life on the Indian Reservation. Records of Indian lifestyle and activity on the Fall River Reservation through the 1700s are sparse. It is known that the number of Indians living there was never large. In 1764, only 28 families consisting of 59 persons resided on the reservation. In the early 1800s, a small meeting house* and school house, combined in one building, together with a number of dwelling houses, existed on the reservation. From what little has been written about their reservation life, it seems that theirs was a pauper's existence. They did little with their Indian land, save renting a portion of it for pasturage and selling small quantities of their timber, and some members of the tribe relied on the state for a ponion of their support. (The Fall River Indians had become wards of the state in 1818.) By the 1840s, the number of Indians living on the reservation had dwindled to 37. Mr. Dubuque [11] cites an 1849 report on the Fall River Indians to the Massachusetts Legislature The following excerpt from that report, which was prepared in response to a resolve of the Massachusetts Legislature directing that the Indians remaining in the Commonwealth be visited "to examine into their condition and circumstances," gives some inkling Of the pitiable condition of the Fall River Indians: The territoo' occupied by this tribe is within the limits of the town of Fall River some 3 or 4 miles from the village. Thc whole amount of thc territory is about 190 acres, Of which about 20 acres are held in severalty, • and the remainder held in commom The soil is generally good; but the indolent and improvident habits of the tribe render it of little use to them as a means of support. ne poulation of the tribe is 37. Families, Males, Females, Natives, Foreigners , Under S years, From 5 to IO years, " 10 21 21 " 50 " " 50 " 70 Over 70, 10, 17, 20, 29, 15, 10, Eighteen or twenty of the above, who are considered as belonging to the tribe, do not live on the territory. Many of them will probably never return, unless it should be to claim a portion of the territory, in case of a division. The means of subsistence are mostly gay •The lands held in severalty were those "owned" by the heirs ofthe original Indian settlers of the reservation, although the state never considered the Indians as owners of the land.
In 1764, the reservation lands had been partitioned—at the Indians' request—into 28 individual lots of nearly 7 acres each, and each lot was assigned to the heirs of the original tribe members. 'Ihis partition, however, in the state's view as established through court rulings, did not confer ownership of the lots to the Indians, either collectively or individually. Instead, they were seen as tenants at will on land held for them in trust by the state. 32 labor. whole stock of the tribe consists of 2 pigs and 20 or 25 fowls. Ihey have no public income, (except some 25 or 30 dollars a year from rent of pasture lands). No schools and no preaching. Of the five children under 16 years of age, 4 are bastards, belonging to a family not residing on the Indian lands. _ .1t might be expected from the above statement of the condition of the tribe, that the appropriations by the State for the support of their paupers, have been large. For the five years previous to 1848, they have received from the State (a total of $1122.90). (From "House Document No. 46," 1849, as cited in [111.) In response to this report, Benjamin F. Winslow, who was at that time the state-appointed guardian of the Fall River Indians, wrote a letter to state offcals in which he addressed some of the issues raised in the report. This letter (given in [1 1]) corroborates the remarkably disturbing picture of life among the Fall River Indians painted in the House report. Mr. Winslow states that "The general state or condition of the tribe is such that it seems hardly possible to conceive of any plan that would be conducive Of any great good to them, as a tribe, for they are but a 'miserable remnant' comparatively speaking, and are but little disposed to associate or make a society Of themselves, but seem to live isolated, and look for little else than the supply of their physical wants.._There are four families living On the Indian land, and but two men among them, who are able to labor for their support...the males generally are at sea..." He further notes that the Fall River Indians are not very industrious, that they have no other source of income except for a small amount obtained from the sale of wood from their lands, that they have no school although the Indian children "generally" have access to the public schools, that seven of them were being (Ph 010 by W. Conforti)
By the 1860s, the number of Indians belonging to the tribe of Fall River Indians had increased to SO, and many of the children were attending public and Sabbath schools. This population increase was the result of an amalgamation of Negroes into the Indian community through intermarriage. By 1867, the Board of State Charities reported that among the so-called Indians, there was a majority of persons with some infusion of African blood. In Benjamin Winslow's 1849 letter, he noted in speaking ofthe tribe's lack of industriousness that the "half-Negro is more disposed to labor than the full-blood native." But despite these greater numbers, conditions on the Fall River Reservation were just as bad as they had been 20 years earlier. Still, the tribe had little incentive to put their lands to productive use. In 1861, only 9 acres of land had been cleared after more than a half-century, and the tillage of this acreage was deemed "very inferior" by the Indians' state guardians. There were Only five dwellings on the reservation. their total valuation being $1000.00. Of the 80-0dd people belonging to the tribe, only five families (totalling 19 individuals) actually lived on the reservation. Many of the others had moved into "the village" (Fall River), and those that had moved were generally regarded as being better Off than those who had remained on the Indian lands. In 1907 when the city of Fall River was granted its petition to condemn and take possession of the Indian Reservation for the protection of North Watuppa Pond, only one family—that of a Fanny L. Perry—was living on the Indian lands. The Perry family's history on the Fall River reservation dated back at least to the early ISOOs and may, in fact, have gone back even farther. (In the partition of the reservation in 1764, several "Pennys" are mentioned among the heirs of the Original lot owners; such variations and alterations in the spelling Of surnames were common in official documents.) Fanny Perry was the widow of Dr. William P. Perry, who was well-known in the Fall River area for his ice-skating prowess, and who might likely have been the city's first naturopath, reportedly making his living from the selling of medicines he concocted himself [10] Owing to the legal controversy over this land-taking and the public sentiment over the dispossession of the Fall River Indians, the city's Reservoir Commission was very attentive to the Perry family. Although Mr. Dubuque in his brief for the city had stated that the city "does not 34 intend to disturb (Mrs. Perry's) occupancy," the Commission soon made arrangements to move the Perry family from its existing house on the north side of Indiantown within the North Watuppa watershed to another site on the south side of Indiantown Road, farther east and outside the watershed. In 1911, the Commission had a foundation constructed at the new site and then moved a house from one of its other reservation properties to the new Perry homesite. The Commission paid for all necessary renovations, including papering and painting Of the house, as well as for the digging of a well, and it also moved an outbuilding from one of its properties to the new Perry house to provide shelter for the Perrys' animals. The Perry family was installed in its new home in the fall of 1911. The old Perry homestead, together with the other remaining structures on the condemned portion Of the Indian Reservation, had all been demolished by the end of 1911.
The Indian Burial Grounds. The condemned portion Of the Fall River Indian Reservation contained two tribal burial grounds. The older of these two burial sites was on the Indian Common; the Other was on the western parcel of the reservation, near the shore of North Watuppa Pond. In July 1911, the Reservoir Commission made some effort to preserve this latter site, authorizing its clerk to "cause a fence to be constructed to define lines of the Indian burial lot..." The Reservoir Commission'S reference to a single Indian burial lot leads one to believe that the Commission might not have even been aware Of the Other burial site and, indeed, no record Of any attempt to preserve the Older burial ground can be found in the Reservoir Commission' s minutes. Arthur Phillips [12], writing in 1941, describes the two Indian burial sites as follows: Included (in the condemned portion of the reservation) were tv.'0 Indian burial grounds known as the "Old" and the 'New". The newer burial ground, on a bluff overlooking the waters Of the pond, is enclosed in a rough post and single rail fence. The Older burial ground was a part of the "Indian Common" located at the northeasterly comer of the Blossom and Indiantown Roads and it has had no care. Within my early memory there were 25 to 30 grave markers upon it—today there are eleven... ne last Indian to be buried in the new cemetery was Dr. Bill perry; this was about forty- five years ago.. There are now (1941) fifty-four burial stones in the new Indian burial lot on the Watuppa Reservation. Today (1996), none Of the I I gravestones that Arthur Phillips counted in 1941 at the "old" burial site can be found, In fact, there is no indication anywhere on this parcel of land that an Indian cemetery' even once existed. The "new" burial ground has fared not much better. With some difficulty, one can find remnants of the fence constructed by the Reservoir Commission in 1911, a rotted post or two emerging aslant from the briary thicket and underbrush that has overtaken the site. As to the "fifty-four burial stones" found by Mr. Phillips at this location in 1941, a determined search through the decomposing residue ofthe autumns of too many years reveals only 10 or 12 well-scattered grave markers—elongated, flat stones skewered on end into the soil and bearing no mark or symbol of 35 their intended purpose. These few markers are all that can be found at the site. A few short years from now, as these stones are toppled and buried by nature's hand, this burial site will all but vanish, and the final resting place of many of the Fall River Indians will be gone forever. As was the case with the tribe it now inters, this Indian burial ground has for too long been the victim of indifference and neglect. The restoration and preservation of this unhonored site, which lies within the heart Of the Watuppa Reservation, would be both a fitting tribute to the memory of the Fall River tribe, as well as an appropriate symbol of the Indian roots that pervade the reservation lands. (Photos by Conforri) Upper photo: Two of the fence posts remaining at the "new" Indian burial ground. Lower photo: Some of the few grave markers still visible at the "new" burial nd. "There remains today little to recall the red man.... A few Indian names have been adopted by the mills, given to streets or clubs, but generally the memory of the untutored child Of the woods has vanished like the mists before the sunshine from the nt busy generation of men. We cannot dismiss him from our recollections, however, without thinking of the strange destiny which awaited him Ovo centuries ago....He was then the monarch of the forest, the proud possessor of boundless acres, the only explorer of the lakes and Streams. He lies now in unmarked and unhonored grave(s), without an epitaph to tell Of his valor, and without a record of his deeds except that which his foes have seen fit to preserve. ...Peace to your ashes, wild child Of nature ! " Hugo A. Dubuque (1897
The acquisition of this piece of land in 1907 was no simple matter, requiring a controversial petition by the city to the Massachusetts Legislature. This special petition, the granting of which is still being contested today, was necessary because the Legislature's acts of the 1890s authorizing Fall River to take the lands lying within the North Pond watershed did not allow the city to take property that the state held for a different public purpose. The Indian Reservation was, of course, held in trust by the State for the Indians who were occupying that LAND The Indian lands condemned by Fall River in 1907. land. So, on the one hand, the Indian Reservation qualified for taking by the city since it was within the pond's watershed, while on the other hand it failed to qualify because théstate held it for another public purpose—the exclusive use of the Fall River Indians. Not only did this issue have to be resolved, but also the title to these lands was uncertain, it having been conveyed to the Indians in colonial times, and Fall River needed a clear title before it could put the lands to the public use it proposed. A complete account of the issues and arguments attending this proposed land-taking is given by Hugo A. Dubuque in his 1907 history of the Fall River Indian Reservation.
Mr. Dubuque, who was City Solicitor at the time, prepared this history as a legal briefin support of the city's special petition for acquisition of the Indian lands. Mr. Dubuque succinctly States the need for the city's petition as follows [l l]: 29 The maintenance of an Indian Reservation would imply the use of buildings and dwelling houses thereon; whereas the appropriation of land by the city, to prevent the contamination of its water supply, implies that barns, pig pens, outhouses and dwelling houses shall not be erected thereon. Ilwrefore, thc two purposes being practically inconsistent, it requires a clear expression of legislative intent, by a special act, to authorize the city of Fall River to condemn any part of the lands of the Indian Reservation. On July 22, 1907, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a special act authorizing the city ofFall River to acquire the Indian Reservation lands it sought. Origin of the Indian Reservation. How the Fall River Indians came to be settled on the shores of North Watuppa Pond is an involved story. In greatly simplified form, the chronicle is as follows.
the Indians were moved, taking up residence on the easterly shore of North Watuppa pond in 1709. Thus, the Indians living on what eventually came to be known as the Fall River Indian Reservation were remnants of the Pocasset tribe, as their Tiverton roots would indicate.
They were so-called "praying who had become Christians or who had been loyal to the English in their struggles with other Indian tribes (Photo by W Conforti) A defaced monument on Blossom Road marking the site of the Fall River Indian Reservation. (A bronze plaque that was stolen from this monument in the 1960s memorialized Daniel Page, a descendant of the first Pocassets to occupy the Fall River Reservation.
Life on the Indian Reservation. Records of Indian lifestyle and activity on the Fall River Reservation through the 1700s are sparse. It is known that the number of Indians living there was never large. In 1764, only 28 families consisting of 59 persons resided on the reservation. In the early 1800s, a small meeting house* and school house, combined in one building, together with a number of dwelling houses, existed on the reservation. From what little has been written about their reservation life, it seems that theirs was a pauper's existence. They did little with their Indian land, save renting a portion of it for pasturage and selling small quantities of their timber, and some members of the tribe relied on the state for a ponion of their support. (The Fall River Indians had become wards of the state in 1818.) By the 1840s, the number of Indians living on the reservation had dwindled to 37. Mr. Dubuque [11] cites an 1849 report on the Fall River Indians to the Massachusetts Legislature The following excerpt from that report, which was prepared in response to a resolve of the Massachusetts Legislature directing that the Indians remaining in the Commonwealth be visited "to examine into their condition and circumstances," gives some inkling Of the pitiable condition of the Fall River Indians: The territoo' occupied by this tribe is within the limits of the town of Fall River some 3 or 4 miles from the village. Thc whole amount of thc territory is about 190 acres, Of which about 20 acres are held in severalty, • and the remainder held in commom The soil is generally good; but the indolent and improvident habits of the tribe render it of little use to them as a means of support. ne poulation of the tribe is 37. Families, Males, Females, Natives, Foreigners , Under S years, From 5 to IO years, " 10 21 21 " 50 " " 50 " 70 Over 70, 10, 17, 20, 29, 15, 10, Eighteen or twenty of the above, who are considered as belonging to the tribe, do not live on the territory. Many of them will probably never return, unless it should be to claim a portion of the territory, in case of a division. The means of subsistence are mostly gay •The lands held in severalty were those "owned" by the heirs ofthe original Indian settlers of the reservation, although the state never considered the Indians as owners of the land.
In 1764, the reservation lands had been partitioned—at the Indians' request—into 28 individual lots of nearly 7 acres each, and each lot was assigned to the heirs of the original tribe members. 'Ihis partition, however, in the state's view as established through court rulings, did not confer ownership of the lots to the Indians, either collectively or individually. Instead, they were seen as tenants at will on land held for them in trust by the state. 32 labor. whole stock of the tribe consists of 2 pigs and 20 or 25 fowls. Ihey have no public income, (except some 25 or 30 dollars a year from rent of pasture lands). No schools and no preaching. Of the five children under 16 years of age, 4 are bastards, belonging to a family not residing on the Indian lands. _ .1t might be expected from the above statement of the condition of the tribe, that the appropriations by the State for the support of their paupers, have been large. For the five years previous to 1848, they have received from the State (a total of $1122.90). (From "House Document No. 46," 1849, as cited in [111.) In response to this report, Benjamin F. Winslow, who was at that time the state-appointed guardian of the Fall River Indians, wrote a letter to state offcals in which he addressed some of the issues raised in the report. This letter (given in [1 1]) corroborates the remarkably disturbing picture of life among the Fall River Indians painted in the House report. Mr. Winslow states that "The general state or condition of the tribe is such that it seems hardly possible to conceive of any plan that would be conducive Of any great good to them, as a tribe, for they are but a 'miserable remnant' comparatively speaking, and are but little disposed to associate or make a society Of themselves, but seem to live isolated, and look for little else than the supply of their physical wants.._There are four families living On the Indian land, and but two men among them, who are able to labor for their support...the males generally are at sea..." He further notes that the Fall River Indians are not very industrious, that they have no other source of income except for a small amount obtained from the sale of wood from their lands, that they have no school although the Indian children "generally" have access to the public schools, that seven of them were being (Ph 010 by W. Conforti)
By the 1860s, the number of Indians belonging to the tribe of Fall River Indians had increased to SO, and many of the children were attending public and Sabbath schools. This population increase was the result of an amalgamation of Negroes into the Indian community through intermarriage. By 1867, the Board of State Charities reported that among the so-called Indians, there was a majority of persons with some infusion of African blood. In Benjamin Winslow's 1849 letter, he noted in speaking ofthe tribe's lack of industriousness that the "half-Negro is more disposed to labor than the full-blood native." But despite these greater numbers, conditions on the Fall River Reservation were just as bad as they had been 20 years earlier. Still, the tribe had little incentive to put their lands to productive use. In 1861, only 9 acres of land had been cleared after more than a half-century, and the tillage of this acreage was deemed "very inferior" by the Indians' state guardians. There were Only five dwellings on the reservation. their total valuation being $1000.00. Of the 80-0dd people belonging to the tribe, only five families (totalling 19 individuals) actually lived on the reservation. Many of the others had moved into "the village" (Fall River), and those that had moved were generally regarded as being better Off than those who had remained on the Indian lands. In 1907 when the city of Fall River was granted its petition to condemn and take possession of the Indian Reservation for the protection of North Watuppa Pond, only one family—that of a Fanny L. Perry—was living on the Indian lands. The Perry family's history on the Fall River reservation dated back at least to the early ISOOs and may, in fact, have gone back even farther. (In the partition of the reservation in 1764, several "Pennys" are mentioned among the heirs of the Original lot owners; such variations and alterations in the spelling Of surnames were common in official documents.) Fanny Perry was the widow of Dr. William P. Perry, who was well-known in the Fall River area for his ice-skating prowess, and who might likely have been the city's first naturopath, reportedly making his living from the selling of medicines he concocted himself [10] Owing to the legal controversy over this land-taking and the public sentiment over the dispossession of the Fall River Indians, the city's Reservoir Commission was very attentive to the Perry family. Although Mr. Dubuque in his brief for the city had stated that the city "does not 34 intend to disturb (Mrs. Perry's) occupancy," the Commission soon made arrangements to move the Perry family from its existing house on the north side of Indiantown within the North Watuppa watershed to another site on the south side of Indiantown Road, farther east and outside the watershed. In 1911, the Commission had a foundation constructed at the new site and then moved a house from one of its other reservation properties to the new Perry homesite. The Commission paid for all necessary renovations, including papering and painting Of the house, as well as for the digging of a well, and it also moved an outbuilding from one of its properties to the new Perry house to provide shelter for the Perrys' animals. The Perry family was installed in its new home in the fall of 1911. The old Perry homestead, together with the other remaining structures on the condemned portion Of the Indian Reservation, had all been demolished by the end of 1911.
The Indian Burial Grounds. The condemned portion Of the Fall River Indian Reservation contained two tribal burial grounds. The older of these two burial sites was on the Indian Common; the Other was on the western parcel of the reservation, near the shore of North Watuppa Pond. In July 1911, the Reservoir Commission made some effort to preserve this latter site, authorizing its clerk to "cause a fence to be constructed to define lines of the Indian burial lot..." The Reservoir Commission'S reference to a single Indian burial lot leads one to believe that the Commission might not have even been aware Of the Other burial site and, indeed, no record Of any attempt to preserve the Older burial ground can be found in the Reservoir Commission' s minutes. Arthur Phillips [12], writing in 1941, describes the two Indian burial sites as follows: Included (in the condemned portion of the reservation) were tv.'0 Indian burial grounds known as the "Old" and the 'New". The newer burial ground, on a bluff overlooking the waters Of the pond, is enclosed in a rough post and single rail fence. The Older burial ground was a part of the "Indian Common" located at the northeasterly comer of the Blossom and Indiantown Roads and it has had no care. Within my early memory there were 25 to 30 grave markers upon it—today there are eleven... ne last Indian to be buried in the new cemetery was Dr. Bill perry; this was about forty- five years ago.. There are now (1941) fifty-four burial stones in the new Indian burial lot on the Watuppa Reservation. Today (1996), none Of the I I gravestones that Arthur Phillips counted in 1941 at the "old" burial site can be found, In fact, there is no indication anywhere on this parcel of land that an Indian cemetery' even once existed. The "new" burial ground has fared not much better. With some difficulty, one can find remnants of the fence constructed by the Reservoir Commission in 1911, a rotted post or two emerging aslant from the briary thicket and underbrush that has overtaken the site. As to the "fifty-four burial stones" found by Mr. Phillips at this location in 1941, a determined search through the decomposing residue ofthe autumns of too many years reveals only 10 or 12 well-scattered grave markers—elongated, flat stones skewered on end into the soil and bearing no mark or symbol of 35 their intended purpose. These few markers are all that can be found at the site. A few short years from now, as these stones are toppled and buried by nature's hand, this burial site will all but vanish, and the final resting place of many of the Fall River Indians will be gone forever. As was the case with the tribe it now inters, this Indian burial ground has for too long been the victim of indifference and neglect. The restoration and preservation of this unhonored site, which lies within the heart Of the Watuppa Reservation, would be both a fitting tribute to the memory of the Fall River tribe, as well as an appropriate symbol of the Indian roots that pervade the reservation lands. (Photos by Conforri) Upper photo: Two of the fence posts remaining at the "new" Indian burial ground. Lower photo: Some of the few grave markers still visible at the "new" burial nd. "There remains today little to recall the red man.... A few Indian names have been adopted by the mills, given to streets or clubs, but generally the memory of the untutored child Of the woods has vanished like the mists before the sunshine from the nt busy generation of men. We cannot dismiss him from our recollections, however, without thinking of the strange destiny which awaited him Ovo centuries ago....He was then the monarch of the forest, the proud possessor of boundless acres, the only explorer of the lakes and Streams. He lies now in unmarked and unhonored grave(s), without an epitaph to tell Of his valor, and without a record of his deeds except that which his foes have seen fit to preserve. ...Peace to your ashes, wild child Of nature ! " Hugo A. Dubuque (1897