Sasumuneash  

 

Sasumuneash is known as Cranberry Day, and the Wampanoag  people have always had a cranberry harvest celebration. Cranberry Day is one of the many thanksgiving celebrations that happen throughout the year. Our ancestors have always taken time to go to the bogs and harvest the cranberries together; that is why Wampanoag children have the day off from school. During the morning and throughout the day only tribal families come to bogs to harvest. After everyone has had time to harvest, all the families get together and have a community lunch. Some of the elders tell about cranberry days from their past before we eat. Then, while we eat, some of the men and boys drum and sing. Although the day’s activities are for our tribal families alone, we invite our neighbors to come to a pot luck dinner during the night. Some families cook foods using the cranberries, so everyone can get a taste of the harvest.

 

 Cranberry Day so important to the Wampanoag tribe because it gives us a chance to give thanks to the Creator for this fruit that has always helped our people survive. The cranberries are stored and used throughout the winter to help vary our diet. In the old days, fishermen who went out to sea for a long time would take cranberries with them, knowing that the vitamin C in cranberries would prevent sickness. In the old days, some of the harvest was sold on the mainland and the money was used to purchase items that weren’t grown on the island, like molasses and sugar. We have continued to celebrate the Cranberry harvest, remembering the different ways the cranberry has helped us. That is why Cranberry Day is an official Tribal holiday.