Nauset Beach

The wind whips around the dunes, churning up the ocean as well, turning the soft sand and surf into a refreshing spray for every surfer and sunbather to enjoy and be exfoliated by. The sun skims the surface of your skin, slightly toasting your flesh and filling your bones with a loving warmth that you hope never goes away. This trip to the beach must be the most satisfying of the year, and somehow you know that your spirit will never leave even if your body does. The Nauset tribe, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians lived in what is present-day Cape Cod, Massachusetts, living east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbours, the Wampanoag. Although a distinct tribe, they were often subject to Wampanoag overlordship and shared many similar aspects of culture, such as speaking an N-dialect of Algonquian language and similar agricultural practices. Due to their ocean proximity, they had a greater reliance on seafood than other tribes. The tribe was one of the first to be visited by Western seafarers, whose abduction of tribal members for slavery and introduction of diseases greatly reduced Nauset even before large-scale colonization of New England. The pilgrims encountered the Nauset during their landing near present-day Provincetown, where the Nauset, weary of foreigners, tried to resist. Although no longer distinct as a tribe, most of the Mashpee Wampanoag band are descended from Nauset people, who currently number 1,100 people and are federally recognized as Wampanoag.