Weekends with Yankee

NARRATOR: Today on Weekends with Yankee, Amy travels to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal lands on Cape Cod to meet chef Sherry Pocknett, the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award, and they enjoy a tasty squash soup in the tribe's wetu.

TRAVERSO: I feel like I'm tasting fall in Wampanoag territory.

You got it.

NARRATOR: Richard enjoys a bike tour along the New Hampshire seacoast.

WIESE: Do you notice when you're biking that the worries of the day sort of melt away?

- Completely.

NARRATOR: And Yankee executive editor Ian Aldrich visits the Ben & Jerry factory in Vermont.

ALDRICH: Am I supposed to thank you for this?

I don't know if you're supposed to thank me or if I'm supposed to say sorry.

NARRATOR: So come along with us for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through New England as you've never experienced it before, a true insiders' guide from the editors of Yankee magazine.

Join explorer and adventurer Richard Wiese and Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso for behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define this region.

It's the ultimate travel guide from the people who know it best.

Weekends with Yankee.

– Major funding provided by: - Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

- Grady-White-- crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

- Country Carpenters-- handcrafted barns and homes for over 50 years.

- On an American Cruise Lines journey, you can explore historic New England.

- New Smyrna Beach, Florida-- sandy beaches and laid back adventure.

Relax already.

NARRATOR: The Wampanoag Nation is known as the People of the First Light.

They have a strong connection to the land, deep respect for nature, and celebrate their culture through the annual powwow in July.

TRAVERSO: Today, I am so thrilled to be visiting the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal lands, home of New England's first culture.

I'll be visiting the local school where this 12,000-year-old culture is being taught to the next generation.

I'm also going to speak with tribal leader Vernon Pocknett and I'm going to cook with Sherry Pocknett, the first Indigenous chef to win the coveted James Beard Award.

NARRATOR: The Mashpee Wampanoag Museum is the only one in existence devoted exclusively to Wampanoag culture.

- The front room parlor is dedicated to the last tribal family that lived here, Mabel and George Avant.

Mabel was also a poet.

TRAVERSO: Really?

- She wrote a lot of poetry.

One of her most known poems is on the back of this photo.

TRAVERSO: Oh, my gosh!

"I have shared your joys and sorrows.

"Welcome to each Sunday morn in the sunshine of the summer and in winter's wind and storm."

NARRATOR: The exhibit, titled "400 Years Ago," marks the anniversary of the Mayflower landing in Wampanoag territory, just 25 miles north of Mashpee.

- So these panels moving forward talk about the major atrocities that took place leading up to King Philip's War.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- It is a heavy history, but we are still here, thriving and surviving, immersed in our culture, and there's hope for the future.

NARRATOR: Fishing and trade were important to the Wampanoag using a boat called a mishoon.

- This is a mishoon.

This is a 12-foot white pine that was made by the youth.

Traditionally, we would make them so big that they could hold 40 men.

TRAVERSO: And how far would somebody travel in one of these?

- Oh, you could travel to the other side of the country in this.

Absolutely.

TRAVERSO: Wow!

- Yeah.

NARRATOR: One of the highlights of the museum is the wetu, a domed shelter that was home for multigenerational Wampanoag families.

TRAVERSO: Wow!

This is incredible!

- This is a wetu.

This is a small example of our winter-style home.

I imagine you would sit or sleep here?

- Absolutely.

So these would be the beds; they would be a little bit lower to the ground, and a little bit wider.

TRAVERSO: It's comfortable.

- So that you could sleep side by side.

And you would be sleeping on inches of fur.

TRAVERSO: Wow!

- So the framework of our homes are made from cedar saplings.

And as you can see up there, we have our smoke hole.

So when your smoke would go up and out, your heat will travel down the walls, go underneath the beds and actually spit back out into the fire.

So it's a constant circulation of heat.

TRAVERSO: Wow.

- Because they are permanent structures.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- Absolutely-- we were not nomadic.

We just lived seasonally because we ate seasonally.

NARRATOR: Meet Sherry Pocknett, a Mashpee Wampanoag chef who's cooking embodies the culinary practices of her tribe.

TRAVERSO: Sherry, it's so great to meet you.

- Thank you.

I'm home.

My homeland.

TRAVERSO: How did you get your start in cooking?

- I got an Easy-Bake Oven.

TRAVERSO: (laughs) - I put deer meat in it, eels.

I put, um, whatever was in the-- my father brought in.

TRAVERSO: (laughs) - Yeah.

I took everything out and fed it to my brothers.

So when I was 12, I used to run a food booth at the powwows.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- So that was my start.

I love to eat.

My palate is... ...amazing, natural food, whatever's in the ground next.

I am "bounty of the season" type of person.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hm.

- Whatever's in season, that's what I'm cooking.

NARRATOR: Sherry recently made history in the culinary world with a restaurant which honored her late father, a Wampanoag chief known as Sly Fox.

TRAVERSO: You were honored with a James Beard Award, which is kind of like the Oscars of the food world, right?

(chuckles): I get emotional on this part, because I didn't see it coming.

But by this time I was sick with cancer.

TRAVERSO: Oh.

- So-- but it didn't stop me from working.

I, I still worked.

I had to focus on something.

And what I loved was cooking.

NARRATOR: It's a special occasion for Sherry to cook in the museum's wetu with Courtney, her niece.

- We're making butternut squash soup, Wampanoag style, the old way, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, herbs, green onion.

These cranberries came from the bog yesterday where my granddaughter went and harvested, and... ...they have been here for thousands of years.

There's also garlic, wild garlic in there that my mother, she grew.

TRAVERSO: Hm.

The food is about so much more than just something to eat or delicious.

- It is.

- It's stories, it's teachings, you know?

Love each other, share with each other.

And that's it, and take care of what Mother gave us.

TRAVERSO: It's like your connection to the land is expressed in that soup.

- We are the land.

We are the land, we are the water.

We're just... a circle.

Right, Court?

- Absolutely.

We learn from our elders.

TRAVERSO: Mm, oh, it's so sweet.

- Is it?

TRAVERSO: So delicious.

TRAVERSO: I feel like I'm tasting fall in Wampanoag territory.

- You've got it.

At its finest.

TRAVERSO: Thank you so much, both of you, for welcoming me here to the museum, to the wetu, and for showing me about your food culture.

- You're welcome.

- You're welcome.

Thank you for coming.

- You've got to keep educating.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

- Let people know that we're still here.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: Popponesset Bay.

These waters have long been a source of food and recreation for the Mashpee Wampanoag, who consider it a sacred natural resource.

Meet Vernon Pocknett, a tribal elder and master fisherman who is also Sherry's brother.

He is committed to keeping these waters healthy through an oyster farming grant.

TRAVERSO: How long have you been doing it?

- Well, I've been growing oysters ever since I was a kid.

My father grew oysters and, and planted the bay.

He was an activist on water quality, also.

This bay has been dying slowly for the last hundred years or more.

TRAVERSO: So why are oysters so important to these waters?

- They're so important because they're a filter food.

They filter the water and make it stay clean.

So you have one oyster actually filters 50 gallons of water per day.

TRAVERSO: Wow.

- So what happens is they grow in the bags and you usually put like 250 in there, like a pack.

No more than that.

These are middle-sized.

We call them first light.

These ones are like, maybe, 14 months.

TRAVERSO: To go from this size to this size, how long does that take?

- It will take another four to five months.

TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

What's special about their flavor from these waters?

- The saltiness to them.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

Wow.

- It's your water.

It all depends on the water.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

And you get a nice salt taste brine to them.

TRAVERSO: Right.

NARRATOR: Vernon shows off oysters that are ready for market.

TRAVERSO: Beautiful!

Oh my gosh, they're huge!

(gasps): Those are huge!

- So this is what the finished product looks like.

TRAVERSO: Incredible, I don't know if I've ever seen them this big.

- About those, you know, a lot of people like real small ones.

You know, they like the petites.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- The Native people like the big ones.

TRAVERSO: Wow.

- I kind of keep these for myself.

TRAVERSO: Yeah?

They're gorgeous.

I've been coming to Cape Cod my whole life, but after today I will never look at it the same.

- Well, thank you for coming.

It's my honor to make sure that everybody understands that the water quality is very important.

NARRATOR: The future of the Wampanoag culture is in the hands of its youngest members.

At the Weetumuw School in Mashpee, tribal educators combine cultural traditions and language with Montessori-style education, a combination they refer to as Wampa-sori.

TRAVERSO: What are some of the cultural values that you want to teach the kids?

- To live on Mother Earth and below Father Sky as a big family, brothers and sisters, whether that's four-leggeds, winged ones, fish beings, everything is part of that circle.

They'll be going through a lot of their morning circle routine, greeting songs, going over weather, so let's go listen.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- All right, are you guys ready for your weather?

(children agreeing) Okay, so... ready?

(singing in Wampanoag) (speaking Wampanoag) What do we think the weather is like today outside?

- They can't wait to talk about the weather in Wampanoag is just such a humbling thing to be a part of.

Sun (speaking Wampanoag), or sun (speaking Wampanoag)?

(students and teacher repeating latter Wampanoag word) Sunny outside.

(speaking Wampanoag) - The Wampanoag people did go through a past where the language has died down, so it was hard.

That's Maushop, Maushop and the whale.

Just being immersed in it, especially learning with the kids back and forth, talking with them, I learned it, just right away.

TRAVERSO: Do you have a favorite word maybe that I could learn?

- Say it loud and proud.

- Cowmmaunsh.

- Cowmmaunsh.

TRAVERSO: Cowmmaunsh.

- And what does that mean?

- Love.

TRAVERSO: Love?

That's so sweet.

That's a great word.

That's the best word.

- These are the children that everybody talks about the future generation.

This is them.

These are the children that are going to be in council, in the leaders that are the next people.

TRAVERSO: Wow.

- This is the future right here in this classroom.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

(singing in Wampanoag) (speaking Wampanoag) WIESE: In the U.S., there are 30 states with a coastline, if you include the Great Lakes.

And New Hampshire has the shortest one.

It's about 18 miles.

But for what New Hampshire lacks in length, it more than makes up in adventure.

And the best way to see it is by bike.

NARRATOR: For over a decade, PortCity Bike Tours based in Portsmouth offers guided adventures along the coast.

Partners Dawn Przychodzien and Beth Jefferson and their team of guides share the best that the New Hampshire coast has to offer.

WIESE: What are the type of people who come on your biking tours?

Do they have to be, you know, real athletic cyclists or what kind of person can do this?

- Well, we offer different types of tours for different levels of adventure.

But mostly people just have to be comfortable on a bike and we do the rest.

Today, Richard and Beth will make their way from Hampton to Portsmouth.

Their journey begins on the famous Hampton Boardwalk.

WIESE: This looks kind of special.

- Yeah, it really is, it's one of the few boardwalks that still exist in our country.

And it's full of history.

People come with their families, they enjoy the beach, and the boardwalk is just a playground.

NARRATOR: As the season turns towards autumn, the beach crowd goes from people to sandpipers and plovers.

There are many ways to enjoy the beach, from bicycle to horseback.

Richard and Beth head north and enjoy the sparkling views.

WIESE: What do you love most about doing this?

- The interaction with the people is really fun.

And I've lived on the seacoast of New Hampshire for 50 years.

I just love showing it to people and letting them see the beauty that's all around us.

NARRATOR: A storied retreat in New Castle beckons-- it's known as Wentworth by the Sea.

WIESE: What makes this property and the New Hampshire Coast special?

- It all really starts when you cross the bridge right there-- the hotel opens up, it just gleams as you come in.

Sunset, sunrise, it's breathtaking.

A really comfortable place to relax, enjoy, connect-- wonderful food and beverage programs, a grateful service spa, luxurious guest rooms of all different shapes and sizes.

They're all unique due to being a historical property.

NARRATOR: Opened in 1874, it was known as Wentworth House, a modest building with spectacular views.

Today, this grand Victorian resort with its turrets and sweeping porches celebrates its 150 year anniversary.

- The biggest piece of history tied to our property really goes back to 1905.

That was the Russian-Japanese War.

Teddy Roosevelt was the president, brought the delegates to Portsmouth to try to end that fighting.

They were housed here, different wings of the building.

Ultimately signed the Portsmouth Peace Treaty ending that war.

WIESE: What makes you most proud of this place?

- A lot of our guests are multigenerational guests because of the 150 years that we've been around.

Parents are bringing their children and they used to come when they were kids.

So recreating childhood memories, making it special, and us hearing that we took part in exceeding what they were hoping to do for a special moment-- that's what makes me proud.

NARRATOR: Richard and Beth continue on their pedal-powered adventure and arrive at Odiorne Point State Park.

The Seacoast Science Center in New Castle is a place to explore, discover, and connect with the wonders of the ocean.

- The Seacoast Science Center has been connecting people to New Hampshire's coastal environment for 32 years now.

We are a nonprofit marine science education center.

Our focus here is really on coastal and ocean conservation and education.

WIESE: What is it you think is special about the New Hampshire coast?

- It's this fantastic, one of the most productive marine ecosystems on the planet.

It's also one of the most rapidly changing marine ecosystems on the planet.

We have a nice variety of coastline here.

We have rocky shores so when the tide goes out, it exposes all these beautiful tide pools, beautiful salt marshes and estuaries, so there's a lot packed into this little space.

We want to create fun, accessible, and just hands-on opportunities to help people really make that personal connection to nature and get their feet wet.

NARRATOR: Sam Rutka is the center's lead aquarist.

He gives Richard a look at the marine life that thrives on this coastline.

WIESE: What a setting.

- You really never know what you're gonna find until you come out and find it.

WIESE: Yeah.

When you come down to a tide pool with somebody, what, what is your goal?

- My main goal is really to spark curiosity and build this vested interest in these ecosystems that many people will just walk right by.

Tide pooling on the sand flats is a lot of fun, because you can see a lot further.

With these rocks, it's a little bit more of an "I Spy" book.

You kind of got to look around, you got to move things around.

These guys are periwinkles.

They're very successful.

You really can't throw a stone anywhere without catching more of them.

WIESE: Yeah, they're everywhere.

NARRATOR: European green crabs can come in different colors, from bright yellow to red or brown.

- Here's a great example.

This is a European green crab.

We can identify the species because it has solid pattern on the legs.

It's got five points.

And this is a juvenile-- whoop-- European green crab.

And look at that little guy right there.

He's just searching through the tide pools here looking for some food, something tasty to munch on.

So we'll let him go back.

NARRATOR: In mythology, sea urchins were known as fairy loaves, food which ensured immortality for spirits.

They're peaceful, clever creatures.

WIESE: Now is he using that for camouflage?

- Exactly right.

Right here, we've got a piece of kelp that he's wearing as a hat.

That's helping with camouflage.

But if you get in there you can see those little tube feet holding on to that mussel shell.

The best way to have anybody really care about an environment is to educate them.

It's an amazing thing to find life, but it's even more amazing when you start to learn about it.

WIESE: Thank you so much for showing me this world, because as I ride through the coast of New Hampshire, I cannot help but think of a low tide as this hour of magic.

NARRATOR: New Castle is the only town in New Hampshire made up entirely of islands incorporated during the reign of William and Mary in 1693.

The route towards Portsmouth winds along the Great Island Common, acres of green space and picture-perfect beaches.

- Ready, set, go.

Lovely.

WIESE: Lovely.

Do you notice when you're biking that the worries of the day sort of melt away?

- Completely.

We have a beautiful temperate climate, too.

And we do like to brag about the history here.

There's so much that people know about Boston, for instance, and the Revolution and all of those events are embedded here as well.

NARRATOR: Settled in 1623, Portsmouth claims to be the nation's third oldest city with a charming downtown and eateries which dot the harbor.

Prescott Park with its sculptural gardens offers a good vantage point of the three distinctive bridges that connect New Hampshire to Maine.

WIESE: So what are we looking at?

- We're looking at the Piscataqua River, and right across the river is the state of Maine.

And the Piscataqua has the second highest tides of any river in the United States.

WIESE: No kidding.

- Which means that for us, there are 17 billion gallons of water that flush out and come in every six hours.

WIESE: What a beautiful and historic spot this is.

You know, I enjoyed this.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Well, I've got one more surprise for you, though.

WIESE: A surprise?

Okay.

NARRATOR: Richard's New Hampshire journey ends with a stop at Kilwins, a celebrated part of Americana that's sweet in every sense since 1947.

WIESE: Well, this is a great surprise, and a perfect ending to the day.

Thank you so much.

- You're welcome.

My pleasure.

WIESE: Cheers.

This ice cream isn't going to eat itself, so... - All right.

Delicious.

ALDRICH: I have a confession to make.

I've lived most of my life in New England, and I've never done the Ben & Jerry's factory tour.

Well, today that's going to change.

I'm in Waterbury, Vermont.

I'm at the Ben & Jerry's headquarters and I'm excited to see what this iconic Vermont destination is all about.

NARRATOR: As he begins his tour, Ian meets up with Sean Greenwood, an ice cream lover and PR mastermind who has worked at Ben & Jerry's for 37 years.

ALDRICH: What am I in for today?

- We are going to have some fun; it's all about ice cream here, so we're going to go out and check out the manufacturing area, see how ice cream is made, eat some ice cream.

And I think we're gonna end up with maybe our 20 scoop sundae called the Vermonster.

ALDRICH: You had me at eating ice cream, let's go.

- Okay!

A lot of people just love us because we make great ice cream, and I think it goes back to the guys starting, saying we want to make stuff that tastes like homemade ice cream that's real ingredients and so let's make that with big fun chunks and swirls.

They had two principles-- if it's not fun, why do it?

And business has a responsibility to give back to the community.

ALDRICH: They actually served ice cream out of this bus?

- They would pull up to rest stops, pop open the side and hand out free scoops to everybody.

The place would go nuts and they'd say they'd throw extra ice cream and then speed off to the next stop.

ALDRICH: Free ice cream-- no wonder these guys are so popular.

Hall of fames are always introducing new entrants.

Is there ever a chance that there's going to be an expanded Hall of Fame here?

- I mean some of these have cut in, right?

Jimmy Fallon's flavor, Stephen Colbert's flavor in the last 15 years, they've made their way into the top ten, but then there's some that stay here forever.

Chunky Monkey has always been in the top ten, even though we know banana's a little bit of a polarizing flavor.

ALDRICH: Banana is a polarizing flavor.

That sounds polarizing in and of itself.

- People either love it or hate it.

The flavor graveyard's a great part of the tour here, right?

People can go pay their respects to their dearly de-pinted flavors and you'd see it, sometimes you just walk up there and there's someone on one knee reading the headstone and having a moment, and, you know, you just touch their shoulder and tell them it's okay.

This was a great flavor, right?

We used Brazil nuts and cashews from the rainforest trying to prove that you could get some value out of the rainforests instead of just cutting them down, and putting cattle on there.

So it was a great flavor with this butter crunch.

But, as you see, also turned up here eventually.

ALDRICH: I think we've worked up enough of an appetite for the Vermonster-- can we go hit it?

That's the only reason why we're here-- let's eat.

NARRATOR: The Vermonster is a legendary Ben & Jerry's sundae that's made with 20 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, bananas, homemade brownies, cookies, whipped cream and toppings galore.

Just don't forget the spoons.

ALDRICH: Am I supposed to thank you for this?

- I don't know if you're supposed to thank me or if I'm supposed to say sorry, but good luck.

ALDRICH: Well, Sean, I can't think of a better way to end this tour than with a giant bucket of ice cream.

- Cheers!

ALDRICH: Bon appetit!

I think it needs more ice cream.

- We got a lot of eating in front of us right here.

(laughter) NARRATOR: For exclusive videos, recipes, travel ideas, tips from the editors and access to the Weekends with Yankee digital magazine, go to weekendswithyankee.com, and follow us on social media, @yankeemagazine.

Yankee magazine, the inspiration for the television series, provides recipes, feature articles, and the best of New England from the people who know it best.

One year for $20.

Call 1-800-221-8154. Credit cards accepted.

Major funding provided by: - Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

- Grady-White-- crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

- Country Carpenters-- handcrafted barns and homes for over 50 years.

- On an American Cruise Lines journey, you can explore historic New England.

- New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

17 miles of beach.

Relax already.