Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe

The Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe is one of several cultural heritage organizations of individuals who identify as descendants of the Wampanoag people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Multiple nonprofit organizations were formed to represent the Seaconke Wampanoag.

The Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe is an unrecognized organization. This organization is neither a federally recognized tribe nor a state-recognized tribe. In 1997, the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs issued a letter "reaffirming the Recognition of the Seaconke Wampanoag people." The Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs lacks the authority to grant state-recognition to unrecognized Indian groups, as recognition is outside of the scope of the Commission as detailed in Executive Order 126.

Wilfred "Eagle Heart" Greene (1937–2016), an early leader of this group, identified as being a descendant of Ousamequin (Wampanoag, c. 1581–1661), more commonly known as Massasoit. The group "claims to consist of descendants of Massasoit's band." The group also identifies as being descendants of Annawan, a Wampanoag leader who died in 1676.

Lois "Lulu" Viera Chaffee (1941–2021) of Seekonk was also a founding member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe.

Name
Seaconke is spelled in many different ways and is the name of a town, Seekonk, Massachusetts, and the Seekonk River, near Providence, Rhode Island. It also means "home of the black goose". The placename comes from the name of a 17th-century Narragansett sachem (leader). The Wampanoag are an Algonquian language-speaking Native American tribe in New England.

Nonprofit organizations
In 1997, the Seaconke Wampanoag organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Cranston, Rhode Island. Michael Markley was the secretary in 2020, and Robert Harris was treasurer in 2021. The group's assets were $36,836 in 2020.

In 1998, the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe–Wampanoag Nation organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Warwick, Rhode Island. Wilfred Green was the agent. In 1998, Wilfred W. Greene III was president, and Stasia Constantino served as director. The nonprofit status was revoked first in 2012 and again in 2018.

Land
In Greene v. Rhode Island (2003), Wilfred W. Greene sued Rhode Island and the towns of Cumberland and Woonsocket in U.S. District Court. He claimed 34-square miles of land near the Blackstone River; however, the case was dismissed.

In 2008, Patrick and Gail Conley donated a 6.7-acre lot in Cumberland, Rhode Island, to the organization, in the care of Wilfred Green. The land, part of the Peterson/Puritan, Inc. site, had hazardous waste and was designated as superfund site by the EPA.

Petition for federal recognition
Wilfred Green sent a letter of intent to petition for federal recognition as a Native American tribe on behalf of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, then based in Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1998. However, the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe never submitted a completed petition for federal recognition.

Proposed state-recognition
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Commission on Indian Affairs was created by state law in 1974; however, it was not given the authority to formally designate state-recognized tribes. John "Slow Turtle" Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag, ca. 1929–1997 ), executive director of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, signed the "Recognition and Reaffirmation of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe".

The Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe is a member of the National Congress of American Indians, who lists it as being "State Recognized" and part of the Northeast Region.

In 2021, Rhode Island State Representative Camille F.J. Vella-Wilkinson introduced House Bill 5385 for state recognition of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, which died in committee. Rhode Island House Bill 7470, an act that "recognizes the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe as a Native American tribe, was introduced on February 11, 2022. Since March 1, 2022, the bill has been "held for further study" by committee.

On January 24, 2024, Rhode Island Senate Bill 2238 was introduce to recognize "the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe as a Native American Indian tribe for the limited purpose of assisting this tribe in establishing eligibility for federal benefits and privileges." On February 2, 2024, Rhode Island House Bill 7477 was introduced with the same stated purpose.

Genetic analysis
In 2005, researchers from the Genographic Project, Zhadanov et al., analyzed genetic variation among members of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Their research revealed "that the majority of their mtDNA haplotypes belongs to West Eurasian and African lineages, thus reflecting the extent of their contacts and interactions with people of European and African descent. On the paternal side, Y-chromosome analysis identified a range of Native American, West Eurasian, and African haplogroups in the population, and also surprisingly revealed the presence of a paternal lineage that appears at its highest frequencies in New Guinea and Melanesia."

The human geneticist Bryan Sykes (1947–2020) wrote in "DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America": "On the matrilineal side, all of the mDNA lineages are of either European or African origin, while the patrilineal Y chromosomes show a range of Native American, European, and African lineages plus one surprise from New Guinea." He continued that "genealogical reconstruction showed that the single Native American Y chromosome was most likely introduced into the tribe by a Cherokee incomer several generations back." He wrote further: "In contrast, the complete absence of Native American mDNA among the Seaconke Wampanoag came as a great surprise to me, given the usual direction of intermarriage between African and European American incomers and Native American women."

Sykes also includes that "in one way this result demolishes the genetic definition of race" and "this only goes to show how incompetent DNA really is at assigning individuals to discrete categories."

Jenny Reardon and Kim TallBear quote these findings in "“Your DNA Is Our History”: Genomics, Anthropology, and the Construction of Whiteness as Property": "Interestingly, this article is unlikely to contribute to scientific understandings of ancient migrations to the Americas. The Seaconke Wampanoag who were sampled largely trace to European and African populations. Indeed they were shown to have no “maternal Native American lineages” and only one “Native American” paternal haplotype in an individual with known Cherokee male ancestry (Zhadanov et al. 2010:586).". However, they further state "Instead, the article is notable for its insightful treatment of nongenetic Wampanoag history and the fact that it was coauthored by Genographic Project scientists and Wampanoag tribal members."

Activities
The Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe host an annual powwow in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. They have hosted their powwow since 1996.

Notable Individuals
Professional boxer Kali Reis "KO Mequinonoag" is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag. The name she boxes under, Mequinonoag, was given to her by her mother, who is the medicine woman of the tribe.