Canoes and Lobster Traps

Canoes were very important to the Wampanoag people. They used them to travel and to fish. The Wampanoag made canoes by using huge tree trunks. They would set the top part of the trunk on fire and scrape away the ashes until the trunk was dug deep enough so that they could sit in it. Canoes were made in different sizes. They could carry one or two people or an extremely large one might hold as many as 30 paddlers.

Equally important were the lobster traps that the Wampanoag fashioned. They placed sticks in the water in the shape of a semi-circle. Then they wove twigs around the poles. That way when the lobster or any fish would gather in this area, the Wampanoag could throw their nets over the open side to trap the fish or lobster.

Wampanoag Weavers

Native Americans living near the seas had to be good at weaving. They needed nets to catch fish. Men, women, and children made nets by hand. It usually took one day to complete a fishing net. You can see from the photo how the Wampanoag would set up their frame to make a fishing net. Women also used plants to dye their yarn or rope. The purple yarn in the photo got its color from the berries of pokeweed while the flowers of the goldenrod plant were used to create the yellow-gold yarn.

Wampanoag Cooking

The Wampanoag women farmed, took care of the children, and cooked whatever the Wampanoag men brought home. It might be some sort of fish or sea food that they caught in the ocean or a wild animal they found in the forests. Wampanoag women would grind corn into meal to make corn cakes, sometimes they even added blueberries. Children would gather nuts and berries that grew wild throughout the area.

Inside a Wetu and Longhouse

The Wampanoag Indians were a Woodland tribe so they used bark and other plant materials to make their homes. The inside of a wetu or longhouse had a dirt floor. The dirt was pefect for a small fire to keep warm and allow the smoke to rise through an opening in the roof. The opening also allowed light into the wetu or longhouse. The Wampanoag people built cot-like elevations along the sides of the inside of the wetu or longhouse for sleeping. If the house was a longhouse, it might have two levels for resting and sleeping. The soft furs of animal skins covered these cot-like structures and were used as beds. Several generations of one family might live in a longhouse. It was big enough to hold as many as 60 people.

Wampanoag Homes

The Wampanoag tribes lived in "wetus" (the Wampanoag word for wigwams). The wetus were small homes made of wooden frames made from saplings and then covered with sheets of elm bark. Once the sheets of bark were added, ropes and strips of wood were used to hold the bark in place. Another home that the Wampanoag lived in was the longhouse. A longhouse was like a wetu except it was much longer and took more time to build. Some longhouses could hold several families. They had two levels for sleeping. An opening(s) in the roof would allow for smoke to rise up out of the wetu or longhouse.

The Wampanoag People

Massachusetts and Rhode Island were the native lands of the Wampanoag. The Native American word "Wampanoag" means "easterners". They were the first Native Americans to befriend the Pilgrims and show them how to plant corn. But disease that the new people brought and attacks by the British killed most of the Wampanoag people. About 300 descendents of the Wampanoag live in Massachusetts and Rhode Island today.

Wampanoag women wore knee-length skirts while the men wore breechcloth and leggings. They wore moccasins on their feet. They usually wore a beaded headband with one or two feathers. The women carried their babies in cradleboards. They planted crops, took care of the children, and cooked while the men hunted or fought to protect their land. Both men and women were storytellers, created art and music, and practiced traditional medicine using plants.

The Great Cabin of the Mayflower

The Great Cabin is where the master of the ship or captain lived, slept, and ate. The master's officers also slept and ate here. This part of the ship was the most comfortable part of the ship.

Steering the Mayflower

The helmsman of the ship steered the ship without seeing where he was going. He had to listen carefully to instructions from the deck above. The helmsman moved a lever called a whipstaff which moved the rudder. The crew also used the stars, the horizon, and special instruments to guide them. They had to be very good at math to use these complicated sailing tools.

Mayflower 'Tween Decks

For 66 days the Pilgrims had no privacy and spent most of their time in the 'Tween Decks which were between the cargo hold on the bottom level and the upper deck. The cramped quarters had to be shared with 100 strangers plus the crew. During fierce storms they were tossed about the ship and suffered injuries. Many also became seasick. Some had hammocks to sleep. Others slept on wooden pallets. Most slept on the floors since space was at a premium. A few people even slept in the shallop, which was a small boat that was stowed on the gun deck.

The Mayflower Forecastle

Meals on the Mayflower were prepared in what was called the forecastle. The passengers and crew ate meat and vegetables at the beginning of their journey. Later, when the fresh food was gone, they ate dried meat, dried fish and hardtack. Hardtack was a rock-hard biscuit which was soaked in soup in order to be eaten. After the fresh water became rancid, everyone drank ale, including children. If there was a storm, the oven fire was immediately put out to keep the ship from catching on fire. This part of the ship was also housed the crews' quarters.

The Mayflower Lines and Sails

The Mayflower was not a passenger ship but a cargo ship. The crew had to work 55 lines and six sails to keep the ship on course. Researchers believe that the ship weighed about 180 tons and was the largest merchant ship of its time. It may have been about 90 feet long. In 1957, a group of English patrons paid to have a replica made of the Mayflower and then have it sailed across the ocean from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts. After the ship reached its American destination, it was given to the United States as a sign of friendship. The Mayflower II has been permanently docked in Plymouth, Massachusetts for more than half a century.

Plymouth Rock

A small boulder sits near the Atlantic Ocean with a black iron fence surrounding it. This is the present home of the rock which we call Plymouth Rock and which had lain near the rocky Atlantic shore when the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts back in 1620. This boulder was actually much larger when it was first viewed by the 102 Mayflower passengers. Later, in 1774, the town residents used a team of oxen to move the symbolic boulder to the town square, but the boulder split in half. Only the top portion left the waterfront. Over the years the rock has seen many changes: souvenir seekers chipped off pieces, parts of the rock were broken when it was moved again in 1834, 1880, and to its current resting place in 1921 when Plymouth celebrated its tercentenary. The boulder has been visible to millions of visitors in its present location for nearly 90 years, although the date "1620" had been inscribed on the rock for slightly more than one and one-quarter centuries. The year "1620" was carved into the rock in 1880.