Members of NSBA’s National American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Council of School Board Members opened the council’s breakfast event on Sunday by mentioning and remembering the people who were the original inhabitants of the San Diego region: the Luiseno, Cahuilla, Cupeno, Kumeyaay, and Northern Diegueño.

Brian Weeden was the keynote speaker at the council breakfast. Weeden has two leadership roles that are intertwined: He is the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council in Mashpee, Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Mashpee School Committee. At 28, he is the youngest person elected as chairman of the council.

It’s fitting that Weeden has a place on both decision-making bodies. The district has a formal partnership with the tribe that includes having both the school board and the tribal council holding joint meetings.

The district and tribe have worked together on the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project, which includes Wampanoag language course offerings in middle school and high school. The tribe has also opened a language school on its reservation. Weeden is a certified Wampanoag teacher.

Weeden opened his address with a prayer in Wampanoag and in English.

“Today, I can speak my language, wear my hair long, and be proud of who I am and where I come from,” Weeden said.

Archeological evidence shows the presence of Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for at least 12,000 years. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is one of the original 69 tribes comprising the Wampanoag Nation. The Wampanoag were the native people encountered by the English colonists in the 17th century, participating in the mythologized First Thanksgiving story. The tribe’s current enrollment is just over 2,800 people, the majority of whom still live in or near the town of Mashpee.

The story of the first Thanksgiving that is taught to most schoolchildren does not include the perspective of the Wampanoag, Weeden told the audience. For example, the Wampanoag were not invited to the first Thanksgiving. Instead, they thought the English colony was under attack, and they sent warriors to help defend them.

Weeden also told the story of his grandfather, who intended that Weeden take his place and take over his work when he died.

Mashpee Public Schools earned a 2021 Magna Awards Grand Prize for their partnership with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Read about it here: 2021 Magna Awards: Grand Prize (nsba.org)