YIPP editors are proud to announce that the Indian Papers Project received a Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions grant from The National Archives‘ National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
The award will fund the editorial preparation and electronic publication of 300 documents in the Massachusetts Archives written by and about Massachusetts Native communities from 1649 to 1870. The resulting product will include high-quality images, typographical facsimile and text-regularized transcriptions, with robust annotations and biographies.
Assisting in the editorial effort will be Hassanamisco Nipmuc tribal chief Cheryll Holley, librarian Eric Maynard (Mohegan), Cedric Woods (Lumbee) of the Institute for New England Native Studies, and several members of the Wampanoag communities.
Building upon the recent Mellon/CLR Digitizing Hidden Collections grant, the NHPRC award represents the first of a multi-year effort to reach out to Native communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Similar in many ways to YIPP’s earlier work in Connecticut, this NHPRC funded effort will allow editors to engage with Native scholars and historians, and this collaboration will result in enhanced metadata and the sharing of very important Native perspectives.
An example of the materials that may be included is a December 1753 petition by Mashpee proprietors Isaac Simon and Daniel Sonkausinin, empowering Ely Moses and Phillip Wepquish to represent the community’s interests before the Massachusetts General Court about claims of longstanding encroachment by English settlers. Other Mashpees mentioned are Isaac Natompom, Richard Simon, and Daniel Saukasin.
(Massachusetts Archives, Volume 32:447).