The first powwow to be held on Gay Head since the days of King Philip took place in that town last night, and the flavor and spirit of those ancient days was revived so far as possible when Lorenzo Jeffers was made chief of the tribe. Dressed in full Indian regalia, with a war bonnet on his head, but unaccompanied by the sound of the war drums or the spectacle of Indians dancing in the flickering flames of a bonfire, Rev. Leonard C. Perry of Fall River, Yellow Feather to members of the tribe, served as master of ceremonies and delivered as well a long address tracing the history of the Indian, his place in this country today and the problems which are facing him.

 

Yellow Feather is the chief sachem of the Wampanoags, a branch of which he organized at Gay Head. He is descended from Massasoit and is tenth hereditary chief of the tribe. As he named Lorenzo Jeffers chief of the tribe, he smoked a pipe of peace, passing it to the new chief and also decking him with a war bonnet. More than 250 years have passed since any ceremony similar to this has taken place among the Gay Head Indians.

 

After Mr. Perry’s speech in which he brought his audience face to face with the problems confronting the Indian today, stressing the need for education and for the red man to find his niche in the life of this country lest he perish, other officers of the council were elected. They were: Medicine Man, Harrison L. Vanderhoop; secretary, Mrs. Harry Webster; treasurer, Mrs. Helen Attaquin. The formal installation of these officers, will take place with a revival of as much of the ancient Indian ceremony as feasible.

 

At the conclusion of the program, near midnight, a shower was given to Gay Head’s newly weeded residents, Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Diamond.