Site of the 1833 Mashpee Revolt

The Old Indian Meeting House is the oldest Native American church in the eastern United States. It sits on seven acres in Mashpee, a wood-frame structure with a Greek Revival exterior and a clapboarded facade that features corner pilasters and a triangular transom window.

Construction dates back to 1758, though it is unclear if this was a new construction or an enlarged and moved version of a 1684 meeting house. Regardless of the specific logistics, the Wampanoag used the building as a Christian church and a school. It has been a site of spiritual significance for centuries, and a cemetery was founded on the church grounds in the late eighteenth century.

In 1833, the site was the location of the Mashpee Revolt. Tribal members and their minister, William Apess (Pequot), protested state intrusions on their self-governance and the theft of wood from tribal lands by white settlers.

The building was re-dedicated in 1923 under the leadership of Nelson D. Simons and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. In 2009, the Mashpee tribe celebrated the reconstruction and formal re-opening of the building.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons