As we've seen in previous posts, one of the by-products of colonization was that some Natives chose to accept Christianity. While some were forced or felt compelled to do so, others did so of there own free well. These included many member of the Wampanoag Tribe, with whom the Pilgrims first had contact. Christianized Wampanoags soon had their own congregations, including one in the present-day town of Mashpee, Massachusetts. The Old Indian Meeting House is the oldest Native church in the eastern United States. It was built in 1684 to replace an older structure that had served as a meeting place for a Wampanoag congregation. In 1717, it was moved to its current location and remodeled, including the addition of a cemetery. It is still used today as an active church.
As with many minority communities in the United States, the local church was a focal point of community activity. The Old Indian Meeting House served as a school for Wampanoag children and a general meeting place for the community. In 1833, the Wampanoag and other New England tribes were facing the same pressure to remove as were other Natives in the eastern United States. White neighbors were encroaching on tribal land and the Wampanoag community, led by their Pequot minister William Apess, staged a formal protest. Unlike many other tribes, the Wampanoag were not forced to remove. The building has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places.
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