Ebenezer Quippish (also known as Chief Red Jacket or Eben Quieppish or Ebenezer Queppish or Mushquipetohkos) (1859–1933) was a leader of the

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (formerly Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.) is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee, Massachusetts, Mashpee on ...

Mashpee, Massachusetts Mashpee ( ) is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mas ...

. He was known for helping to lead a cultural revival in Mashpee in the 1920s, and was also a traditional basket weaver, chef, hunting/fishing guide, seaman/whaler, and member of

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at t ...

Early life and work as a seaman and performer

Eben Quippish was born in 1859 in Mashpee to Joseph Quippish and Jemima Pocknett, and as a young man possibly attended the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

. In 1877 Ebenezer Queppish sailed on the whaling

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

"Josephine." In 1880 Quippish was still working as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

. After eventually leaving his job as a seaman, Quippish worked in the Montana Charlie Indian show, then the Healy and Bigelow show, and finally

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

Wild West Show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

as a horseback rider.

Later career as a cook, fisherman, craftsman, and cultural leader

When the Wild West Show toured Europe, Quippish learned to cook and upon his return to Massachusetts, he cooked at the Tenampo Club in

Marstons Mills, Massachusetts Marstons Mills (sometimes spelled Marston's Mills) is a village in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is primarily residential, located on Massachusetts Route 28, and rural in nature. Main roads also include Massachusetts R ...

, a fishing and hunting resort on Mystic Lake. Queppish also worked as a fisherman and fishing and hunting guide. Throughout his life Quippish supplemented his income by making traditional Wampanoag baskets in the manner learned from his father, and some of Quippish's baskets (and handmade fishing dip nets) are now in museums including the Smithsonian's

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. Quippish worked with fellow Mashpee Nelson D. Simons in the 1910s and 1920s to keep alive various Wampanoag cultural traditions and organizations culminating in the 1928

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity fo ...

meeting of the various Wampanoag branches. In 1929 as one of the last traditional basketmakers of his generation, Queppish taught

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Indigenous people originally based in what is now southeastern Connecticut in the United States. They are part of the Eastern Algonquian linguistic and cultural family and historically shared close ties with the neighboring ...

folklorist, Gladys Tantaguideon how to make an offering basket. Quippish died on January 7, 1933, at

Cape Cod Hospital Cape Cod Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, as of 2011 it is the largest hospital on Cape Cod. The administration is headed by CEO Michael K. Lauf. The hospital has 283 beds ...

in Barnstable after being hit by a car and was buried in the Mashpee Town Cemetery. His closest surviving relative was his sister, Priscilla Quieppish Pells.Priscilla appeared in "People and How They Affected Me"

References

{{reflist Mashpee Wampanoag people Native American basket weavers Indigenous sailors of the Americas American fishermen Carlisle Indian Industrial School alumni People from Mashpee, Massachusetts Wild West show performers Road incident deaths in Massachusetts