The Sowams Heritage Area Project has recently been incorporated with the State of Rhode Island as a non-profit corporation. Project Coordinator David Weed applied for the status in preparation for filing as a 501c3 tax exempt organization with the IRS. “This is an important step toward our goal of creating a National Heritage Area designation by the National Park Service,” noted Weed. “We have formed an initial Board of Directors to get started and will be adding representatives of the eight communities that are part of the Sowams Area,” he added. The Sowams Heritage Area Project was launched in September 2018 and has identified over fifty locations that connect with the 17th century transition from indigenous to colonial occupation of the home of the Pokanoket Massasoit Ousamequin. The vision of the project is to interpret the history of settlement, support the preservation of land and waterways, and provide new opportunities for education, recreation, eco-tourism and heritage tourism.