Gay Head

How cool is the tribal emblem of Gay Head’s Wampanoag? That’s the spirit Moshup holding a whale by the tale atop Aquinnah’s magnificent cliffs.

The tribe, which became a federally acknowledged tribe in 1987, resides at the southwestern corner of Martha’s Vineyard (or “Noepe” in their native tongue) in the town of Gay Head, which has recently reverted to its native name of Aquinnah. The almost 500 acres of tribal land include the public beach at Gay Head which lies beneath the gayly colored clay cliffs, one of Massachusetts’ most stunning spots.

The cliffs were formed during the glacial retreat at the end of the last glaciation, more than 10,000 years ago. To the Wampanoag, the cliffs are sacred. According to Wampanoag legend, Moshup would drag whales up onto the cliffs to cook, the whale blood staining the cliffs, giving them their deep red color. Removing clay from the cliffs is prohibited, and signs are posted to remind visitors that the cliffs, like the surrounding dunes, are a fragile natural resource. Today, the cliffs are no less sacred to the many beachgoers who marvel at their beauty and the amazing backdrop they provide to one of the grandest bathing spots in the Northeast. It doesn’t hurt that the hip Wampanoag authorities don’t prohibit bathing au naturale.

After a recent personal crisis involving a very frustrating and traumatic trip overseas, I paid a visit to the beach at Aquinnah with my partner and a close friend. It was an unseasonably warm day for November. Only a few other casual strollers were present. The beach was mostly deserted. The water at Aquinnah (and at the island’s other beaches as well) is usually much warmer than elsewhere in Massachusetts, more akin to the sheltered waters of Cape Cod bay than the open Atlantic, and this clearly has something to do with the nature of the currents surrounding the island. I swam at Aquinnah on a warm Memorial Day a couple of years ago, and it’s the only place I’ve ever been in Massachusetts where I could swim so early in the season.

Still, I didn’t really expect to go swimming in November. The next thing I knew, though, my partner was buck naked, running toward the surf, and I quickly followed suit by stripping down to my own birthday suit. The water was cold, but tolerable, and quite refreshing and invigorating. Having not swum since just after Labor Day weekend, it was amazing to relive the summer for a brief moment in November, and to do so in a place so beautiful and magical was more therapeutic than I could have imagined. After about a half hour playing in the powerful waves, I air-dried myself on the sand and dozed beneath the sun and the cliffs.