Boundless K-12 Curriculum: PLACE

Why is retaining knowledge of a place important?

A photograph showing trees along the horizon line looking out onto a clearing. The foreground is under the shade of the tree branches, among the shadows of the leaves is the soil floor. In the center is a large horizontal log resting.
Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock, American, born 1990)

Ayeuonganit Wampum Ayimꝏup – Here, Wampum Was Made, from On This Site series, 2016
Archival inkjet print on matte paper 
Purchase with William W. Collins (Class of 1953) Print Fund
2023.37

Ayeuonganit Wampum Ayimꝏup (meaning “Here Wampum Was Made” in the Shinnecock language) is also known today as Parrish Pond in Southampton, NY.

This place is a site where Shinnecock previously engaged in in wampum-making. According to Shinnecock knowledge keepers, the area had the perfect combination of a running stream and a particular species of heather grass used to polish wampum shells for beads.

Photograph of a shell and round beads made from the shell.

Today, the area has been primarily developed for luxury homes, except for a small parcel set aside for cultural/knowledge preservation.

An aerial view of a neighborhood with street names and a marker for Parrish Pond Lane.
A view from Google Maps of the Parrish subdivision and the parcel of land without housing is where the Shinnecock nation’s former wampum-making site is located.
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Listen to the oral history clip from Shinnecock tribal leader Daniel Collins.

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Read about what Jeremy Dennis says about the preservation efforts of the Shinnecock people. Although the Parrish Pond area is not necessarily used for making wampum anymore, consider why many Shinnecock people fought for its preservation.

https://nativelongisland.com/wiki/preservation/

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Watch the video below and consider:

  • Why is this place important to the Shinnecock people today?
  • How can we learn from this site of preservation in order to recognize a land’s first peoples (the Shinnecock) currently, and in the future?
Presencia Taina. Becky Gina Thunderbird Sisters & Jennifer Cuffe at VOME. YouTube Video. 1:00. 2016

Rebecca Genia describes the preservation attempt of the Parrish Pond area by Shinnecock Tribal Members. (1:30 – 7:25)
Learn More about JEREMY DENNIS
overlapping concentric circles made by ripples in water.

Boundless K-12 Curriculum

* YouTube links to audiovisual materials shared by other creators are included in the curriculum. For more information, including for captioning and transcripts of the suggested audiovisual materials, please contact the audio/video content creators.