SmokeSygnals

03/28/2025

Our work will continue because failure is not an option.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aiming to eliminate what the it calls “anti-American” content from museums and parks, sources told ABC News.

02/10/2025

01/22/2025

This administration may not see the value in DEI, but we do. We know the value of new perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and genders. We see the value in every DEI employee relieved of duty today and feel for them deeply and personally. We see the value in the relationships we've built with our federal government partners and the great work we've done to amplify communities of color over the past four years. We understand the fear of a future under a hostile administration because of a status - women-owned, native-owned, disadvantaged business - that we will continue to carry proudly. All this has done today is reaffirm why we must work harder and longer to build our story in our voice.

Trump has called the diversity and inclusion programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring.

12/18/2024

We’re excited to have added this beautiful bulrush mat by Aquinnah Wampanoag artist Leah Llanes to the traveling Wampum Belt exhibit currently at Little Compton Historical Society.

11/30/2024

The U.S. Small Business Administration have opened up so many opportunities for us over the past few years - from training programs, and mentor programs to contracts with National Parks and Smithsonian - allowing the exhibits and educational content we create to reach people across the country. And now they have shared our business on its social media channel. Thank you for the continued support.

For over a decade, Paula Peters, a Wampanoag Tribe of Mashpee citizen, championed Native American voices through journalism, activism, and publishing. In 2007, she transitioned to public relations, founding SmokeSygnals with her son, Steven.

Their mission? To tell powerful stories, like the acclaimed exhibit "Our Story: 400 Years of Wampanoag History," which redefined narratives about the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620. Despite the pandemic challenges, the team adapted, earning 8(a) certification and landing major contracts with institutions like the Smithsonian.

In 2023, SmokeSygnals was honored as SCORE Cape Cod’s Small Business of the Year, continuing to inspire through impactful storytelling.

Learn more: https://www.sba.gov/success-story/native-american-owned-creative-company-sending-smokesygnals-broader-impact

11/24/2024

Thanksgiving: a celebration or a National Day of Mourning?

It's a complicated question, which is why we created an exhibit and this video to explore it. We hope you enjoy it and learn more about how Native Americans perceive this holiday.

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

This is "National Day Of Mourning" by SmokeSygnals on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

11/18/2024

We created this video about traditional harvest festivals to provide a deeper context for what occurred in 1621. Cranberry Day with the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah is a beautiful example of these traditions. We hope you enjoy it and find lessons to carry forward as you approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Produced by SmokeSygnals for the National Museum of the American Indian and featured in the inquiry resource: The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Bet...

11/11/2024

Around this time of year, teachers, parents, and students constantly ask how to approach Thanksgiving. We now have a toolkit to help answer that question. The curriculum we worked on with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is an excellent, free resource. We hope you enjoy it, and be sure to check out the Cranberry Day Video - it's one of our favorites.

https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/Thanksgiving/

Full Service Marketing and Communications Company Based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

11/05/2024

Mark your calendar to visit a new traveling exhibit at the Little Compton Historical Society open from November 30, 2024 to January 20, 2025.

"Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America,"

shares the history and cultural significance of wampum for the Wampanoag people and was created by SmokeSygnals, an Indigenous creative agency founded and run by the Peters family.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a magnificent wampum belt recently created by Wampanoag community members and displayed throughout the United Kingdom in 202o in the hope of finding Metacom's lost wampum belt, a war trophy once in the possession of Benjamin Church and later sent to the King of England but never acknowledged as received.

Learn more with this fascinating video.

https://vimeo.com/399335744?autoplay=1&muted=1&stream_id=Y2xpcHN8MjkwODY1ODh8aWQ6ZGVzY3xbXQ%3D%3D

09/11/2024