Moshop was a man of peace who first lived on the elbow of Cape Cod. He loved to contemplate the beauty about him and would sit long hours tranquilly smoking his big Peudelee, or pipe, while he watched the clouds or stared out at the ever-changing sea. He was known as a just man and a kindly philosopher whose wisdom was unquestioned. He excelled in feasts of strength and bravery, which the envious attributed to magic. This caused malice and dissension to arise among some of his neighbors. After long consideration, Moshop decided he was weary of strife and discord. He would search out a new place where he and his followers may live in peace.

Along the marshes of Nauset on Cape Cod, over the dunes and through the forests, Moshop and his wife Squant and their people walked with the rising sun and the sun guided them toward land which was new to them.

The shore birds flew up ahead of them. Pheasant and deer looked on with wonder, then scurried into hiding behind bayberry, sumac, viburnum, and wind-swept oaks.

At last, spent with walking, Moshop paused to look about him. As he slowly dragged one huge foot, water rushed in and a pool formed behind him. The pool deepened and became a channel and the tide swept in to separate a portion of land. That land became an island separated from Cape Cod by blue water. Soon his footsteps were marked by a chain of small islands, but it was the land that lay ahead which fulfilled Moshop's desire and became the beautiful island of all. Moshop named this largest island, Capawack, or "Refuge Place."

From the westernmost high clay cliffs of Capawack, Moshop could see whales playing close to shore. There were forests edged by ponds of fresh water; sheltered fields for planting, and beauty wherever he looked. Never before had he gazed on such perfection. Truly the Great Spirit had led him here. This was the Refuge Place he had been seeking.

With housewifely concern, Squant set about preparing their first meal. Moshop pointed to nearby young trees and she pulled some of them up for firewood. Today there are no sizable trees on Gay Head, for Moshop's wife and children burned constant fires in their lodges. Smoke from these fires settled in a haze over the hills and today Old People sagely nod their heads and say the haze that often is seen comes from Old Squant's fire, or if the fog is unusually thick, then Moshop is smoking his pipe, or Peudelee.

Moshop provided the food for Squant to cook by wading out into the sea and catching a whale by the tail. Quickly he dashed it against the cliff so the blood ran down in a crimson stain. It ran down into the sea and stained the water red, as the water sometimes is stained today when the surf washes against the cliffs, which have red clay deposits.

As the family of Moshop and Squant grew in size, they continued to eat their meals at the edge of their cliff home where they discarded the whale bones as well as bones of other animals. There were many bones and sometimes teeth of animals unknown in present times. These are still found today by sharp eyed visitors who recognize them embedded in the cliffs or washed down on the beach.

Scientists say that the rise of the land ceased at that time, but it still continues today and the sea is constantly nibbling away at Moshop's land.

-- Helen Attaquin, Aquinnah Wampanoag

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