Aquinnah Wampanoag whaling descendant, and marine scientist, Elizabeth James Perry discussed her art and the concept for the show, Ripples. Through a Wampanoag Lens. This engaging conversation focuses on subjects such as Indigenous gender roles and responsibilities, deep knowledge of the environment and important adaptations to four hundred-plus years of close contact with completely different cultures from Europe and around the globe, both by the tribal Wampanoag communities here as well as by Wampanoag whalemen and naval officers on the decks of ships that traveled the world. Click here for the one-hour YouTube video of Akeja de Barros Gomes interview of Elizabeth James Perry
(Above) Akeia de Barros Gomes explains how her designs and the raw materials for the exhibition each have personal and historic cultural meanings connected to them.The discussion was moderated by the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Curator of Social History,
Elizabeth shares how this history influences and inspires her work. “Ripples. Through a Wampanoag Lens” was funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In a short video, Elizabeth demonstrates how she works with natural substances, like quahog shells and milkweed, to create items rich in ancestral history.
