Wampanoag Common Lands: Muddy Pond Restoration Project

Project Partners Our primary contacts for the project were Leslie Jonas and Chuckie Green. Leslie is the Vice Chair of the Native Land Conservancy and the Building Committee Chair for the Wampanoag Nation Common Lands Cultural Education Center. Chuckie is a Culture Keeper for Preserving Our Homelands (POH) and the former Natural Resource Director for the Mashpee Wampanoag. Both Leslie and Chuckie are members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Nation. In our many conversations with both, including an in-person site tour over Zoom, it became apparent how enthusiastic both Leslie and Chuckie are for the future of the Muddy Pond site. Below are quotes which we feel embody the restoration perspectives of our project partners in their approach to the Muddy Pond site. Leslie Jonas (she/her): “Throughout this project, the hope is to inspire anyone getting involved with the site—a visitor, a partner, or a member, or an attendee at an event—to be a part of our desire to assist people in creating a connection with our Earth Mother, whether through [environmentally] restorative or cultural processes. Reuniting the Wampanoag Nation through this project is key. Whatever we do, the sole purpose is to have humans reconnect and fall back in love with our Earth Mother. ” Chuckie Green (he/him): “Our kids could go in there and start restoring the environment. Bringing back the native plants that are no longer there and helping to remove some of the invasives that are there. So I mean, I see that as being a definite benefit to my kids: being able to explain to my kids why this is

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Wampanoag Common Lands: Muddy Pond Restoration Project

Published on Aug 11, 2022

MIT DUSP

The Muddy Pond conservation area is approximately 32 acres in south Kingston, MA. The Muddy Pond restoration site is in the process of transitioning to the ownership of the Native Land Conservancy (NLC). The site borders Route 80 and is surrounded by 322 acres managed by the Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT). In the process of this project, much of the information about Muddy Pond has been shared through conversations, stories, and shared moments. For example, Tim Simmons, a conservation ecologist on the Muddy Pond Trust board who has been prominent in the transition to the NLC, explained the significance of Muddy Pond from his view. He told the team how a man who owned a local beer distributorship in the Kingston area had made an awful lot of money selling beer in the New England area. He cared greatly for the environment and wanted to give something back to the community that fostered his business. The donor’s intention was to return the land to its original stewards: the native peoples of the area.