Jannette Vanderhoop is a From the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). The first of her family to ever go to college as a Gates Millennium Scholar through AIGC (American Indian Graduate Center), Jannette holds a bachelors degree from Pitzer College in Environmental Studies and Art. She is an indigenous entrepreneur from the island of Martha’s Vineyard, a professional artist, published author/ illustrator, master gardener, educator and yoga instructor. She sits on the board of directors for the Aquinnah Cultural Center. She seeks to increase global visibility and connection of Eastern Seaboard indigenous peoples through museum exhibits, community workshops, art shows, school visits, and urban and rural projects. She works with children and adults of all ages teaching nature based themes.

Her modus operandi is to “educate people to respect nature through art” and so, she produces her work as a form of environmental expression. She is a serious, accomplished and prolific artist who makes authentic contemporary Native American jewelry. Her organic wampum arrangement celebrates the rich legacy of nature stewardship she has inherited as a Wampanoag woman from Martha’s Vineyard. By using locally sourced wampum shells from the rugged coastline of the island and random parts of the natural world, including found and reconstituted materials, shells, stones, feathers and bones, there is no lack of inspiration or originality. The work has been characterized by eccentricity, asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and suggests an appreciation for naturalness. She has mastered concepts of color shape and design over the course of 15 years, to create a signature for her work. Each colorful piece she makes is a wearable art object that nods to her culture and the history of her tribe while also celebrating her connection to the land and the sea. Each piece is hand-made one-at-a-time, unique and cannot be duplicated.

Miss Vanderhoop started her business, Island Naturals, in 2006. She sells her work at the Martha’s Vineyard Artisans Festival in the summers on the beautiful island of Martha’s Vineyard. Honored as the first and only member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to be included in this juried show. Miss Vanderhoop has sold over 200 of her signature wampum necklaces to visitors and collectors from all over the world. With the desire to fight stereotypes as they relate to native people, her work is decidedly contemporary.