19th Annual Wampanoag Ball: A fun time had by most

A week ago I was pretty excited to put on the new cat dress my daughter insisted I buy for the Wampanoag Ball. Not exactly satin and tulle but fun. I was a little afraid it might seem like I didn't take the dress code seriously but both the dress and the ball were perfect and I had an amazing time dancing with my husband who wore his tuxedo. Too bad the headlines didn't reflect what a great event it really was. I wrote the following response to set the record straight that appeared in the Cape Cod Times this morning.

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Nineteen years ago with a small group of Wampanoag women I started the Mashpee Wampanoag Winter Ball with the intention of having an event that celebrated our pride in our heritage and honored our families and community friendships. It was an instant success. After 10 years on the ball committee I stepped aside to allow a new generation of party planners and fundraisers to manage the event, and they have done an outstanding job.

Those inside the ballroom at the Sea Crest Resort Hotel in North Falmouth on March 21 night enjoyed what I believed was the best Wampanoag Ball ever, and I have attended every one.

From our humble beginnings at the old Sons of Italy, where members of the ball committee shucked oysters in our fancy ball gowns, gave out our first set of awards, danced the night away to music spun by my disc jockey brother Robert Peters, this year’s event had the same original intent with a upscale flair.

The hall was beautifully decorated with floral and balloon arrangements. The food was plentiful and amazing. The ceremony opened with our traditional drummers who performed an honor song for our awardees. A live band shared the stage with my brother, who was back with new tunes and his classic closing rendition of Earth Wind and Fire’s “Brazilian Rhyme.”

How terribly unfortunate that a few bad actors had to steal the spotlight. There is no excuse for that.

The March 23 headline about the Mashpee Wampanoag should have been about money raised at the ball for a playground and a charity event at the Tribal Government Center, where a sold-out crowd was entertained by the Harlem Rockets and raised money to support our elders. Instead, the Page One story was about fights, an overcrowded elevator and four people arrested. I do not blame the media for that: I blame a lot of poor decisions and actions both on the part of those involved in the supposed “melee” and on an overzealous law enforcement response that was both insensitive and inflammatory.

After the last dance I exited the ballroom escorting my elderly neighbor, who happens to have multiple sclerosis, to meet my husband at the hotel entrance with the car. I could not help but notice a large police and security presence but didn’t see or hear any sign of a fracas. Instead of finding my husband and the car in front of the hotel I was met by about a dozen officers and security and found the otherwise easy flow of the pickup circle completely blocked with at least half a dozen police cars. The officers seemed to be milling about waiting for something to happen and had no interest in the obvious obstruction they had created to the drive-up circle function as an orderly exodus from the event. As a result I had to pace around in the cold and search for my husband with my elderly disabled neighbor for about 15 minutes while police ignored us. I’m sure all of this can be confirmed on the hotel security video. Finally, a member of the ball committee came to assist me and told me that there was a disturbance on the second floor among some who had rooms and that it had been made even more contentious with police who asked why the Wampanoag don’t have their events in Mashpee, the implication being we are unwelcome in Falmouth.

While even the hotel manager said the police response was overblown, police insensitivity to the large majority of attendees and provocative remarks to an already insurgent group on the second floor made matters worse. Police also complained that the majority of those trying to get to hotel rooms were intoxicated. It should not be lost on anyone that many got rooms because they knew they would be celebrating and wanted to avoid drinking and driving.

At the end of the day, the resulting stain on the Wampanoag Ball is undeserved. A lot of lessons are to be learned, not the least of which is that we as a tribal community need to determine who is responsible for bad behavior, hold them accountable and teach them the value of being respectful.

Ironically, I have the same advice for the responding law enforcement who ignored the needs of law-abiding and cooperative guests, unnecessarily encumbered those trying to leave, and made derogatory and inflammatory comments to an already angry and unruly group.

I personally look forward to the 20th Annual Wampanoag Ball next March at the Sea Crest Resort.