Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, focusing on Chief Red Jacket. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Ebenezer Quippish/Queppish (1859-1933), aka Chief Red Jacket, was born to Joseph and Jemima (Pocknett) (Alvis) Quippish/Queppish, widow of Charles Alvis.

Here is a close-up of Chief Red Jacket (indicated by red arrow) from the same photo.

Eben was a noted hunter, cook, and fisherman. More importantly, he is credited with reviving tribal culture and the Wampanoag Confederacy in the 1920s. When he died in 1933, hundreds of Wampanoag people attended his funeral at the Old Indian Meeting House in Mashpee, Massachusetts, to pay their respects to their leader.

Below is a news clip from the Boston Herald.

This article reads:

MASHPEE, Jan. 9 – Tom-toms will beat an Indian prayer to the Great Manitou when members of the Mashpee Tribes pay picturesque tribute to the last full-blooded leader in the tribe, Chief Red Jacket, following conventional church services at the Old Indian Church, Mashpee, tomorrow at 2 P.M.

Chief Red Jacket, known as Eben Quippish, was known throughout the nation for his knowledge of Indian lore. In his younger days he had traveled with “Buffalo Bill” Cody in his first Wild West show. He was especially skillful in Indian art and handicraft and some of his pieces are now shown in museums.

Last Saturday night he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver. Peter Quinn, 30, of Centre Street, Hyannis, [Massachusetts], a taxi driver, was arrested early yesterday morning and appeared before Judge Paul M. Swift in Barnstable district court this morning to plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. He was sentenced to six months in the house of correction. An indictment charging Quinn with manslaughter will be asked at the spring sitting of the grand jury.

The Rev. Donald Redfield, pastor of the Indian church here, will conduct the usual church services, after which the body of Chief Red Jacket, who was chief medicine man of the Wampanoag Tribe of Mashpee, will be taken to the Indian burying ground in Mashpee.

Chief Red Shell, historian of the Tribe, known as Clarence M. Wixon, of Middleboro, will conduct the Indian burial service.

Tom-toms will sound as bucks in colorful costumes appeal to the Great Spirit according to historic ritual.

Chief Red Jacket was born in Mashpee 73 years ago, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Quippish, before the town was formed. He spent considerable time with “Buffalo Bill” in touring the United States and the world. When the Wampanoag tribe was formed again, he was named to the important post of chief medicine man, which ranked him equal to the chief sachem, or leader, of the Tribe.

He leaves a sister, Mrs. Priscilla Pells of Hatchville, and a first cousin, Edmund B. Amos, town clerk of Mashpee.

Photos and history of this family can be found in “Talking with the Elders of Mashpee: Memories of Earl H. Mills, Sr.”

The family is mentioned in “New Bedford Communities of Whaling: People of Wampanoag, African, and Portuguese Island Descent, 1825–1925.” Eben is listed on the 1877 crew list, age 18, for the whaling vessel Josephine.

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Note on the header image: Ousamequin, or “Massasoit” (Wampanoag term for “Great Sachem”) and Governor John Carver smoking a ceremonial pipe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Credit: Sutro Library; Wikimedia Commons.

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