{"id":111123,"date":"2026-10-16T09:09:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T13:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=111123"},"modified":"2026-10-16T09:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T13:34:21","slug":"photos-from-the-past-wampanoag-tribes-of-mashpee-and-gay-head-aquinnah-part-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/photos-from-the-past-wampanoag-tribes-of-mashpee-and-gay-head-aquinnah-part-9.html","title":{"rendered":"Photos from the Past: Wampanoag Tribes of Mashpee and Gay Head (Aquinnah) (part 9)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry focuses on Amelia Grace (Peters) Bingham, a former Elder of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who preserved the history and traditions of her people. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Wamps<\/p>\n

We are the four directions
\nWe are East, West, North and South
\nWe are Punkhorn Point, Popponesset Bay
\nWe are the Mashpee River
\nWe are the Flume that separates the pond from the ocean
\nWe are the herring and the scup
\nAnd the venison and the rabbit
\nWe are the scrub pine and scrub oak
\nWe are the protectors of the land
\nWe are the Mashpee Wampanoag<\/p>\n

–Russell Peters, 1993<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I continue to look at some of the history of the Wampanoag Tribes of Mashpee and Gay Head (Aquinnah) with some AI enhanced photo features gathered from newspaper clips and archives.<\/p>\n

The Wampanoag, the \u201cPeople of the First Light,\u201d are comprised of two federally recognized tribes: the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe located in Mashpee, Massachusetts; and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) located on Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Their people have inhabited this land for 12,000 years.<\/p>\n

My subject today is Amelia Grace (Peters) Bingham<\/a> (1923-2021), a former Elder of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who preserved the history and tradition of her people. She was the Turtle Clan Mother \u201cSeaweed.\u201d She was the great granddaughter of Rev. Joseph \u201cBlind Joe\u201d Amos (1806-1869) and Abigail (Wickham) Amos (1804-1853)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Amelia Grace Bingham. Credit: \u201cRemembering Clan Mother, Amelia Bingham,\u201d Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to her obituary, in addition to her civic duties Amelia was a talented, renowned artist specializing in interior design. Her work as an interior decorator for the New Seabury Model Homes was featured in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine<\/em>, highlighting her creative expertise and flare for color seen in many Cape Cod homes.<\/p>\n

She was the founding director of the Mashpee Historical Commission and campaigned to preserve several historic buildings including the Parsonage, the Avant homestead, the One Room Schoolhouse, and the Old Indian Meetinghouse. She spearheaded efforts to restore the Meetinghouse for community use and the Avant house, where she established the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum (also becoming the Founding Director).<\/p>\n

Amelia was the eldest of eight children born to Mashpee Selectman Steven Amos Peters Sr. and Clara Jane (Miles) Peters. (A photo of the children can be found at the end of this story.)<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of Steven Amos \u201cHappy\u201d Peters Sr. (1897-1954), son of Charles Holmes Peters and Cordelia \u201cAmelia\u201d Babcock (Amos) Peters.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Steven Amos Peters Sr. Credit: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The poem at the beginning of this article was written by Amelia\u2019s brother Russell M. Peters Sr.<\/a> (1929-2002), known as \u201cFast Turtle,\u201d author of The Wampanoags of Mashpee<\/em>, and former Wampanoag chief and president of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Russell M. Peters Sr. Credit: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Past Leaders Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another sibling is former spiritual leader and supreme medicine man for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, John A. Peters<\/a> (1930-1997) aka \u201cSlow Turtle \u2013 Cjegktoonuppa.\u201d He was also a police officer for the Mashpee Police Department.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John A. Peters, aka Slow Turtle. Credit: Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amelia married Lt. Col. George Gulian Bingham Jr. (1917-2000), son of George Bingham and Ruth (Gould) Bingham, and the couple had eight children.<\/p>\n

I found an article on George published in the Sturgis Public Library archives, entitled \u201cFormer Cantabrigian Earns Higher Spurs in U.S. Army,\u201d that provides some early history on his career as a military man and how he met Amelia:<\/p>\n

The meteoric rise of Lieutenant Colonel George G. \u201cDewey\u201d Bingham, formerly of Cambridge, but at present military science teacher R.O.T.C. at Virginia State College, would be one of the most interesting true stories for a movie or play.<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Bingham, who recently received the promotion, is one of the youngest men to hold the rank of lieutenant colonel and is to be highly commended. We knew this soldier of fame when he was a stripling in the Mass. National Guard, 372nd Infantry, and also had the pleasure of working with him in the playgrounds in the city.<\/p>\n

He was first, last, and always a soldier, a devoted son to his parents and lastly a gentleman.<\/p>\n

During the early 40s, a youngster with a West Point carriage and the ambition to rise to greater heights, [he] married the beautiful and talented Amelia Peters, daughter of the late Steven and Mrs. Clara Peters of Mashpee, Mass.<\/p>\n

Today Mrs. Amelia Bingham is as beautiful as ever despite the fact she is the happy mother of eight children.<\/p>\n

To Lt. Col. Bingham my sincere congratulations and may you continue to advance in the armed services of our country; and to Mrs. Bingham may you continue to be a source of inspiration to your husband.<\/p>\n

To Mrs. Bingham, your mother, the early training you gave your son has borne forth good fruit and you can be both proud and happy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Below is a photo of Amelia and George\u2019s gravestone located in the Mashpee Town Cemetery which features the couple\u2019s photos.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: George and Amelia Bingham gravestone. Credit: Elaine Rondeau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1938 at age 15 Amelia made headlines across the country. Her father sought scholarships and entrance for her and her 13-year-old brother Steven A. Peters Jr. because the laws by which Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, was founded in 1769 stipulated that Indians should be educated.<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of 15-year-old Amelia published in the Lowell Sun<\/em> with the headline \u201cDartmouth Maid?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Lowell Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts), 17 March 1938, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As it turned out, Amelia was not accepted into Dartmouth College because in 1938 it was all-male, not becoming coeducational until 1972.<\/p>\n

Below is a photo of Amelia (center) with her brother Steven A. Jr. (left) and their mother Mrs. Steven A. Peters (right). Their mother was born Clara J. Miles, daughter of Oscar Columbus Miles and Amanda C. (Hill) Miles, and she married Steven Amos Peters Sr. on 22 February 1922<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Steven, Amelia, and Clara Peters. Credit: Boston Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My next story will cover more of Dartmouth and the Peters, which provides some very interesting history.<\/p>\n

Below is a photo of the children of Selectman Steven Amos Peters Sr. and his wife Clara, courtesy of Mashpee 125th Anniversary: A Pictorial History<\/em> by Rosemary H. Burns, edited by Ann Whitlow<\/a>. Many of the Peters family have served Mashpee in various positions.<\/p>\n

In this photo we see (from left to right): Anne, Randy, John, Russell, Muriel, Clara, Steven, and Amelia.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: the children of Selectman Steven Amos Peters Sr. and his wife Clara. Credit: \u201cMashpee 125th Anniversary: A Pictorial History\u201d by Rosemary H. Burns, edited by Ann Whitlow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Ousamequin, or \u201cMassasoit\u201d (Wampanoag term for \u201cGreat Sachem\u201d) and Governor John Carver smoking a ceremonial pipe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Credit: Sutro Library; Wikimedia Commons. [052825]<\/p>\n

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