Stephanie Duckworth and Jana Mashonee
Duckworth, 37, is a walking anomaly. At 6’1,” she commands attention. Duckworth is the CEO of Wampum Books, the first Native-owned book publisher in the country. Duckworth is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, whose present day territory lies at the southwestern tip of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Duckworth authored Poneasequa, Goddess of the Waters. During an interview, Duckworth said the book is biographic. Like the protagonist, McKenzie Jones, Duckworth’s journey of life thus far has led her through a maze of perseverance and self-discovery.
Duckworth said at the tender age of 10 she was abandoned by her substance- addled mother and left in the care of her Wampanoag grandfather. This was a blessing. Grandfather Harding ran a farm and practiced Wampanoag tradition.
As the story goes, at five feet tall, McKenzie was singled out due to her physical characteristics. Her skin was dark among the sea of White children at Edgartown Elementary. A guidance counselor once told her, ‘Wampanoags don’t go to college.’
These experiences impressed the image-conscious girl throughout maturation. Duckworth said she always felt different, but she believed in herself. It was only because of a fateful school presentation that she uncovered her unique Wampanoag beauty and strength.
Duckworth said as an emancipated youth, she managed to get herself through high school and went on to college. As a young adult, Duckworth survived Ovarian Cancer, bereaved the loss of her mother, and to her surprise, became a new mom. During this spate of fate, Duckworth earned a bachelor’s and two masters’ degrees from renowned universities.
The book is a young readers’, but its message is universal. It reminisces of Indian ways of life. It engages young and old alike with terms like, smoked fish house, skunk grease, and beach dunes.
Poneasequa, Goddess of the Waters was bestowed with a silver 2010 Mom’s Choice Award which honors excellence in family-friendly media.
As publisher of Wampum Books, Duckworth helped launch American Indian Story, The Adventures of Sha’kona, authored by Stephan Galfas and Jana Mashonee, singer, songwriter, and actress.
Mashonee is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and is a seven-time Native American Music Award winner.
American Indian Story is based on Mashonee’s Grammy nominated album of the same name. The book is fiction. Mashonee told the crowd who gathered to hear her perform at the Steele Auditorium that the book is for everyone.
The book is sprinkled with phonetic phrases from Algonquin, Inuktitut and other regional dialects. Its main character, “Sha’Kona,” in Oneida, means “gift.”
It tells of the epic journey that took place some 20 thousand years ago by 16 year-old Sha’Kona and clan members who first encountered people of the New World. “Imagine the kind of world it was back then,” Mashonee said, while pausing between performances.
“It’s full of action and adventure,” Mashonee said. The wondrous journey was purposefully written in a Laura Croft Tomb Raider kind of way, she reveals. “We wanted to get into a fantasy journey.”
Mashonee delighted the audience with her performance of Solid Ground from her new New Moon album. Her music is available at www.janamashonee.com/store.html
Poneasequa, Goddess of the Waters, American Indian Story, and The Adventures of Sha’kona, are available at www.orders.wampumbooks.com
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