Linda Jeffers Coombs is an author and historian from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Coombs is the former program director of the Aquinnah Cultural Center.
Career
Coombs began a museum career in 1974, interning at the Boston Children's Museum as part of its Native American Program. She and her peers, including Narragansett elder Paulla Dove Jennings, wrote children's books for the museum, illustrating Native American culture from a Native American perspective. Coombs later worked for nearly three decades with the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation, including 15 years as the program's associate director. In that capacity, she wrote a number of essays documenting colonial history from a Native American perspective, and often spoke publicly about the need for more accurate representations of colonial events including the first Thanksgiving and Columbus Day.
Coombs serves as program director of the Aquinnah Cultural Center, continuing to educate the public about Wampanoag history, culture, and other contributions. Valued for her expertise in regional Native American history, Coombs is a frequent consultant on scholarly and educational projects.
Born and raised in Martha's Vineyard, Coombs lives with her family in the Wampanoag Community in Mashpee on Cape Cod.
Publications
- "Colonization and the Wampanoag Story."Race to the Truth Series Crown Books for Young Readers, New York, 2023
- "A Wampanoag Perspective on Colonial House."Plimoth Life, v.3 no. 1, 2004: 24-28.
- "Hobbamock’s Homesite." Thanks, But No Thanks: Mirroring the Myth: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving. Plymouth, MA: Wampanoag Indian Program. September 9, 2000: 2-3.
- "Holistic History." Plimoth Life 1(2) 2002:12-15.
- "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick ." " Cultural Survival Quarterly, Spring 2007.
- "New Woodland Path Makes Inroads at Wampanoag Homesite." Plimoth Life, v. 5 no. 1, 2006: 20.
- Powwow. Modern Curriculum Press, 1992.
- "Wampanoag Foodways in the 17th Century." Plimoth Life 2005: 13-19
References
- ^ Brennan, George (October 7, 2020). "'We are the original people of this land'". The Martha's Vineyard Times.
- Stevert, Patricia (1993). Opening the Museum: History and Strategies toward a More Inclusive Institution. Boston: Children's Museums. p. 48.
- Dresser, Thomas (2011). The Wampanoag Tribe of Martha's Vineyard: Colonization to Recognition. The History Press. pp. 165–75. ISBN 978-1609491864.
- Massey, Joanna (August 12, 2004). "Bringing History's "Messy" Nature to Life for Educators: Program Uses Plimoth Plantation to Boost Awareness". Boston Globe. p. 7.
- Knox, Robert (November 22, 2001). "Plimoth Plantation Book Challenges Thanksgiving Myth". Boston Globe. p. 10.
- Plimoth Plantation. "Who are the Wampanoag?". Wampanoag Homesite. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- Fifis, Fran. "Native Americans still fighting ignorance at Plimoth". CNN. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- Cooper, Karen Coody (2008). Spirited Encounters: American Indians Protest Museum Policies and Practices. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7591-1088-5.
- Butterfield, Fox (October 11, 1992). "Columbus Runs into Storm in Boston". New York Times. p. A18.
- Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head. "Aquinnah Cultural Center". Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- Kavasch, E. Barrie (2004). The Mound Builders of Ancient North America. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.
- McGuire, Margit (1997). The Wampanoags and the First Thanksgiving. Everyday Learning Corp.
- Kerber, Jordan (2006). Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Native Peoples and Archaeology in the Northeastern United States. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- Center for New England Culture. ""We're Still Here" Online Exhibit". Center for New England Culture. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
External links
- Art by Linda Coombs on exhibit at the University of New Hampshire
- Linda Coombs speaking about Thanksgiving in 2010 at Boston City Hall
- 2010 Documentary about King Philip's War, in which Linda Coombs appears
- Living people
- 20th-century Native American women
- 20th-century Native American writers
- Historians of Native Americans
- Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head people
- Native American women writers
- People from Aquinnah, Massachusetts
- Historians from Massachusetts
- American women historians
- 21st-century Native American women
- Native American people from Massachusetts
- Writers from Massachusetts
- 21st-century American women writers
- 21st-century American historians
- 21st-century Native American writers