Background
She is the granddaughter of respected Mashpee leader Mabel Pocknett Avant (Nokomis).
She is the granddaughter of respected Mashpee leader Mabel Pocknett Avant (Nokomis).
Joan Tavares Avant has served three terms as Tribal President, four terms as Tribal Historian, and was the Director of Indian Education in the Mashpee Public School System for 26 years. In that latter capacity, she worked to provide guidance and promote cultural awareness to local Wampanoag students and teachers, as well as to provide school day care and tutoring services. She worked with Native and non-Native educators to create a curriculum that highlighted local Wampanoag elders, culture, history, legends, and values.
In 1993, the Falmouth Affirmative Action Committee recognized Avant for her work with education.
In November 2012 she was chosen to be featured in the Columbia Broadcasting System News segment Wampanoag: Reviving the language discussing the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project. Avant received a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services in 1993 from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a Masters in Education at Cambridge College in 1995.
She is currently working on a doctoral degree in Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also serves on the Mittark Committee, which publishes Nashauonk Mittark, the monthly Mashpee Wampanoag newsletter.
Avant remains actively involved in the Mashpee community as a Clan Mother, Commissioner for the Tribal Housing Commission, and member of the Mashpee Historical Commission.
