<P> Cape Cod has been the home of the Wampanoag Native American people for many centuries . They survived off the sea and were accomplished farmers . They understood the principles of sustainable forest management, and were known to light controlled fires to keep the underbrush in check . They helped the Pilgrims, who arrived in the fall of 1620, survive at their new Plymouth Colony . </P> <P> The Wampanoag lost their lands through continued purchase and expropriation by the English colonists . The documentary Natives of the Narrowland (1993), narrated by actress Julie Harris, shows the history of the Wampanoag people through Cape Cod archaeological sites . </P> <P> In 1974, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council was formed to articulate the concerns of those with Native American ancestry . They petitioned the federal government in 1975 and again in 1990 for official recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a tribe . In May 2007, the Wampanoag tribe was federally recognized . </P> <P> Cape Cod was a landmark for early explorers . It may have been the "Promontory of Vinland" mentioned by the Norse voyagers (985--1025). The Manomet River area (taken up by the western end of the Cape Cod Canal in the early 20th century) is claimed by some to have been visited by Leif Eiriksson, and a stone wall discovered in Provincetown in 1805 is also claimed to have been built by his younger brother Thorvald Eiriksson around 1007 AD, when the keel of his ship was repaired in the harbor, according to Norse sagas . He was killed later in the same journey, and is said to have been returned to this spot for burial . However, there is no tangible support of the presence of Norse voyagers in Cape Cod, and the view is not generally accepted by archaeologists or historians . </P>

Where does the name cape cod come from