Welcome to Wild Wind Creations Native American Arts and Crafts

January 30 1948 - March 18, 1997
"Quick Foot" forever in our hearts
until we dance again in
Cautantowwit's House

Melvin 'Kennupmussitaccq' Coombs, 49, Champion Indian dancer and cultural educator, died last week.

The prominent member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe was killed in Richmond, RI. Melvin was a much loved tribal member; he was a cultural hero to young and old. Melvin was born and raised in Mashpee where he attended Lawrence High School in Falmouth and Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. For the last two years he lived in Exeter, RI but returned to Mashpee often. He had often stated that his goal was to dispel stereotypes about Indians by sharing his culture with others. In the late 1980's he began dancing competitively at area powwows and speaking at schools, clubs and other organizations. In the early 1990's he worked as a cultural interpreter at Plymouth Plantation in the Wampanoag Indian Program. He had served on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Board of Trustees of the Tomaquag Museum. Surviving are four sons, two brothers, three sisters, and one aunt, many nieces and nephews and cousins.