Press Kit
Wampanoag Homesite
| For Immediate Release |
Contact: Jennifer Monac
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(508) 746-1622 x8206
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Wampanoag Homesite
At Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA
Backgrounder
Hobbamock was the Pokanoket Wampanoag man who acted as Plymouth Colony's interpreter, guide and advisor in dealing with the Native People. He and his family lived adjacent to the English colonists (often called the Pilgrims) from 1621 until his death sometime before 1643. The Wampanoag Homesite at Plimoth Plantation is a re-creation of the houses, gardens and artifacts that a man such as Hobbamock and his family might have had.
At the Homesite, Native interpreters in period deerskin dress and plain-clothed staff use modern-day English to comprehensively explain Wampanoag history and culture, in addition to describing the life and times of Hobbamock and his family.
Visitors to the Homesite will learn how Hobbamock might have lived. They'll see wetuash (houses), including a puttuckakuan (round house), and nearby, a neskwetu, or house of two fires. Stepping inside, they'll see a fully furnished dwelling in which they may sit and talk with an interpreter about 17th-century Wampanoag life.
During a visit to the Homesite, a variety of men's and women's activities may be occurring: men may be making a mishoon (boat) or constructing a house, while the women might be creating pottery or "twining," a type of finger weaving used to create storage bags. On any given day, fish or corn might be processed outdoors, or a bluefish, duck, or sobaheg (stew) might be cooking over the fire. In the center garden, interpreters often work at planting or weeding the traditional mounds of corn, beans and squash.
The mishoonash (boats) that are built each year as part of the exhibit are on display on the shore of the nearby Eel River. They are made by burning out the core of a log, scraping away the burnt wood with stone tools. When the boats are completed, visitors may occasionally glimpse a Native staff member paddling one on the river.
Information used in creating the Wampanoag Homesite was gathered in part from early histories of Plymouth Colony in which Hobbamock was frequently mentioned. He was a man who had the status of a specially trained warrior and councilor to Massasoit. Because of his high status, Hobbamock was asked to come to Plymouth as a liaison to the English colonists. He also made the 40-mile journey from Pokanoket (now Bristol, Rhode Island) to Plymouth because the Native People of Patuxet (Plymouth) had died in plagues (probably of European origin) four years prior to the arrival of the Mayflower.
The Wampanoag Homesite at Plimoth Plantation sits on an archaeological site where Wampanoag artifacts dating back 8,000 years have been found. The discovery of postholes indicates that it did indeed serve as a seasonal homesite for Patuxet people. The real homesite of Hobbamock and his family, however, was south of Town Brook on what is now known as Watson's Hill.
Plimoth Plantation is a non-profit, educational institution that is supported by admission fees, contributions, memberships, function sales, and revenue from our dining programs/services and museum shops. The museum receives support from private foundations, corporations, local businesses, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
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