Pic credit: Aquinnah Land Initiative
A Native-led nonprofit organisation has launched an $8 million campaign to acquire and restore a historic property on Martha’s Vineyard that has deep ties to the Wampanoag community. A former Aquinnah Shop sat on the 3.5-acre property overlooking Martha’s Vineyard’s Gay Head Cliffs. The site also had a restaurant, which was started in the 1940s by Wampanoag couple Napoleon and Nanette Madison. But it is empty now. For many Wampanoag families, the Aquinnah Shop is more than a restaurant. They worked there, ate there and gathered at the property. It was a place where they built connections, even as ownership of nearby land changed over the years. ALI intends to rehabilitate the former restaurant. For ALI board member Amira Madison, the campaign is closely connected to her family. She is also a descendant of the restaurant’s founders. Several other members of the organisation’s board are also their descendants. So, for them, reclaiming the cliffside also means bringing their ancestral land back home. The challenges they face are not financial alone. There are administrative and environmental challenges, given that the property sits along the island’s fragile cliffs. ALI is not really a tribal government entity; however, all of its board members are citizens of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Many of its members are also direct descendants of Napoleon and Nanette Madison, the couple who built the original shack, which later became the restaurant. As soon as the property went up for sale, they acted quickly. Initially, they explored options for buying the land through a private backer, but then circumstances changed, and they decided to form a nonprofit organisation.