Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 13

This year, the Mashpee Wampanoag will receive word from the federal government regarding their longstanding bid for federal recognition. For the Wampanoag, the hope is that recognition will bring opportunities for federal assistance. As it is, high housing costs are fracturing the native community and creating overcrowding. But an even larger problem may be that in less than a generation, pollution and development have made it hard for American Indians live off the land.

In Waquoit Bay, Annawon Weeden washes his hands at the water's edge for less than a moment before he spots the a woodpecker. He points at a perfectly round hole in nearby tree and listens.

Weeden is a 34-year old Mashpee Wampanoag. He spent much of his youth in near the Mashpee River, where his ancestors have lived for 12,000 years. But as a young man, Weeden was unable to find work in Mashpee for more than $9.00 an hour. He moved to New Bedford several years ago, after he and his family found themselves homeless and living in the woods.

Annawon Weeden: "When the winter came by it was a very hard time to survive here, with the economy pretty much dwindling down, and we were camping out on our tribal lands ourselves at one point. And even in the cold. And we had to separate and ... and literally I had to bounce around from place to place at that time."

For a Wampanoag, it is difficult to leave Mashpee because the tribe is here. But it's a tribe in crises. The cost of living is high, wages are low, and housing is unaffordable. Alice Lopez, the director of the Mashpee Wampanoag housing program, says she personally knows of ten tribe members living in the woods because they have no place else to go. Countless others live in shelters or with extended family.

Alice Lopez: "Some go from house to house, week to week. The kids are shuffled around, it affects the kids with education, it stresses them out, it's a really great number. It's hard to estimate exactly how many because sometimes they don't come out of the woods."

Last summer, Lopez learned that a teenaged tribe member was living in the woods, and she asked him to show her where.

Alice Lopez: "He brought me so deep into the woods ? I couldn't believe it. I said, You carry food in here and do this and do that ... And he says, no, my father told me I have to go deep into the woods because if I don't, the police will come and harass me. So it has to be hidden. The tourism industry will not let it be seen, and I truly believe that. Cape Cod can't look too poor, but it is. It is."

There are about 350 Wampanoag living in Mashpee today, and tribe administrators estimate that about 90% live from paycheck to paycheck, undeniably poor. The Wampanoag have always embraced a simple lifestyle. So today, even when considering the housing crises, the biggest problem may be that this tribe of fishermen can no longer feed itself from the land.

Alice Lopez: "It's really the destruction of the natural resources that did that put us in the situation where we need money."

Standing by the mouth of the Mashpee River, Annawon Weeden says he wants nothing more than to come back home to live on his ancestral land and teach young natives and non-natives what it means to live off the land, just as he has his own children.

Alice Lopez: "There was one point, right down the river here, when I brought my kids, they were like five, six and seven at the time probably, we went down to get some mussels, and while we were picking them, I figured what a great opportunity to explain to them how important this way of life is and this area is that we're at."

As they gathered the muscles, Weeden told his children that it's not just people that rely on this river, but animals and plants, who cannot speak for themselves.

Annawon Weeden: "No sooner did I get those words out of my mouth, the osprey came flying over our head with the fish in the talons. I said, see, see, see. I pointed at him. That's exactly what I'm talking about. He's going home to feed his family with the fish he just got from the same water we're getting these mussels right now."

The family went back to gathering mussels when Weeden's youngest son spoke up.

Annawon Weeden: "He said, Dad, creator makes beautiful things, huh? And I said, yes, yes. He created this whole water and everything that is here with us and he said, Dad, the creator made me, huh? And it literally made me drop to my knees. As young as five, he got it. He got things ... Unfortunately now, when we go back to that same location, there is too much nitrogen in the water and we cannot get the mussels there anymore."

In early 2006, the Wampanoag received preliminary recognition as a tribe by the federal government. A final decision is due in 2007. Recognition is not expected to be the answer to all of the tribe's problems. But if they receive tribal recognition, the Mashpee Wampanoag will be allowed to apply for federal grants. However, they will have to compete against other tribes to obtain any federal funding. Still, Wampanoag like Annawon Weeden cannot help but hope this designation will enable tribe members like himself to come back home to Mashpee.