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Wampanoag Indian Tribe
Location
Wampanoag
The name has the same meaning as Abnaki, "eastern people."
Also called:
Massasoits, from the name of their famous chief. Philip's Indians, from
King Philip. Connections
The
Wampanoag belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock, speaking an n-dialect
like the neighboring Massachuset,
Narranganset, Niantic (East
and
West), and the
Nauset.
Location
The Wampanoag occupied Rhode
Island east of Narragansett Bay; Bristol County, Mass.; the southern part of
Plymouth County, below Marshfield and Brockton; and the extreme western part of
Barnstable. The Indians of Martha's Vineyard should also be added to them, and
it will be convenient to treat under the same head those of Nantucket and the
Saconnet, or Sakonnet, of Sakonnet Point, R. I., whose connection was more
remote. They controlled Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay until the Narraganset
tribe conquered it from them. (See also
Rhode Island.)
Subdivisions
Speck (1928) gives the following mainland
subdivisions:
(1) Band of Massasoit, in a territory called Sowwams on the east side of
Narragansett Bay; the western part of Bristol County, Mass.; all of Bristol
County, R. I.; and the eastern part of Providence County, R. I.
(2) Band of Annawon, about Squannaconk swamps in Rehoboth Township.
(3) Band of Weetamoe, a chieftainess, their territory being called
Pocasset, in southeastern Rhode Island, about Tiverton and adjacent parts of
Bristol County, Mass.
(4) Band of Corbitant or Caunbatant, about Swansea.
(5) Band of Tispaquin or Tuspaquin, lands called Assawampset, about
Assawampset Pond.
(6) Band of Tyasks or Tyashk, about Rochester and Acushnet.
(7) Band of Totoson, in a territory centering about Mattapoisett and
Rochester.
(8) Band of Coneconam or Cawnacome, in a territory known as Manomet,
extending from Manomet to Woods Hole.
(9) Band of Piowant or Piant, between Assonet Bay and Taunton River.
There were several vacant tracts not occupied by any of the above. In 1861 there
were bands of
Wampanoag at Herring
Pond, Dartmouth, Mamatakesett pond, Tumpum Pond, and Watuppa Pond.
Speck (1928) gives the following bands on Martha's Vineyard, but the
classification applies to a time when Indians from various parts of the mainland
had begun to settle there:
(1) Band of Nohtooksaet who came from Massachusetts Bay, about Gay Head.
(2) Band of Mankutquet (including the bands of Wannamanhut who came from
near Boston (Christian town) and Toohtoowee, on the north shore of Chilmark), in
the western part of Martha's Vineyard excluding the preceding.
(3) Band of Tewanticut (including the bands of Cheesehahchamuk, about
Homes' Hole; Wampamag, of Sanchakankachet; and Tom Tyler, about Edgartown), in
the eastern section of Martha's Vineyard.
(4) Band of Pahkepunnasso, on the island of Chappaquiddick.
There were two bands on Nantucket, the names of which are unknown, and we must
also add the Sakonnet, on Sakonnet Point, R. I., and the Indians of the
Elizabeth Islands. Villages
Mainland:
Acushnet, about Acushnet.
Agawam, about Wareham.
Assameekg, probably near Dartmouth.
Assawompset, in Middleborough Township.
Assonet, conjectural village near the present Assonet.
Coaxet, near Little Compton, R. I.
Cohannet, about Fowling Pond near Taunton.
Comassakumkanit or Herring Pond,
Herring Pond, Plymouth County.
Cooxissett, probably in Plymouth County.
Cowsumpsit, in Rhode Island. Jones' River, in Kingston Township.
Kitteaumut, near Monument Pond, Plymouth County.
Loquasquscit, near Pawtucket, R. I.
Mattakeset, near Duxbury.
Mattapoiset, near Mattapoiset, Plymouth County
Munponset, location unknown.
Namasket, about Middleboro.
Nasnocomacack, on the coast and probably a few miles north of Plymouth.
Nukkehkummees, near Dartmouth.
Pachade, near Middleboro.
Patuxet, at Plymouth.
Pocasset, near Tiverton, R. I. Pokanoket, on Bristol Peninsula, R. I.
Quittaub, in the southwestern part of Plymouth County.
Saltwater Pond, in Plymouth County.
Shawonet, near Somerset.
Wauchimoqut, probably near Seekonk.
Wawayontat, on Weweantitt River near Wareham.
Martha's Vineyard:
Chaubaqueduck, on the main island or on Chappaquiddick
Island.
Gay Head, at Gay Head,
Nashamoiess, in the southeastern part of the island.
Nashanekammuck, at Chilmark.
Nunnepoag, location uncertain,
Ohkonkemme, near Tisbury.
Sanchecantacket, near Edgartown.
Seconchqut, location uncertain.
Nantucket:
Miacomit, location uncertain.
Podpis, a district and probably village.
Quays, a district and probably village.
Sasacacheh, a district and probably village.
Shaukimmo, a district and probably village, south of
Nantucket Harbor
Siasconsit, a district and probably village, including the
site of the present Siasconset.
Squam, a district and probably village.
Talhanio, location uncertain.
Tetaukimmo, a district and probably village.
Toikiming, location uncertain.
History
With many
older writers on the Norse voyages to America, Mount
Hope Bay, in the territory of the Wampanoag, was a
favorite site for the supposed Icelandic colony (ca.
1000-1010), but the theory is now less popular. In 1602
Gosnold touched at Martha's Vineyard and was kindly
treated by the natives. Soon after the Pilgrims had
established themselves at Plymouth in 1620 they made a
treaty of friendship with the Wampanoag head chief,
Massasoit, who played a great part in the early history
of the colony. He died in 1662 and was succeeded by two
sons in succession, the second of whom, Metacomet or
Metacom, is the King Philip of history. Observing the
steady influx of White colonists into Indian lands, King
Philip organized a native confederacy against them and a
bloody war followed (1675-76), in which King Philip was
killed and the power of the tribes of southern New
England finally destroyed. The Wampanoag survivors
settled with the Sakonnet, who had remained neutral, and
formed towns with the Nauset in the western part of
Barnstable County. In 1763 they suffered severely from
an epidemic, but a number of bands have preserved their
autonomy, in a much mixed condition, to the present day.
The Indians of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, like the
Sakonnet, had refused to join the confederacy and
consequently maintained their numbers relatively intact
for a longer period. They continued to decline, however,
and in 1764 two, thirds of the Nantucket Indians were
destroyed by a fever. Two of three mixed-bloods were
left in 1809, and in 1855 Abram Quary, the last of
these, died. The Indians of Martha's Vineyard, on the
other hand, received considerable accessions from the
mainland and have maintained themselves down to our day
though, like the mainland Indians, much mixed with other
tribes and other races.
Population
Of Wampanoag proper Mooney (1928)
estimated that there were 2,400 in 1600. They probably suffered severely in the
epidemic of 1617, but in 1630 they are said to have had about 30 villages. In
1700 the Sakonnet Indians, including most of the Wampanoag remnants, were
estimated at 400. In 1861 a partial census gives 258, and we may suppose that
the total was about 300. Martha's Vineyard: The estimates of the Indian
population of Martha's Vineyard vary greatly. Mooney (1928) estimated the number
of Indians at 1,500 in 1600, perhaps taken from an estimate of 1642, which gives
the same figure, while a later writer places their number as "not less than
3,000" (Hare, 1932, p. 44). An estimate made in 1698 gave 1,000. In 1764, 313
were returned; in 1807, 360, only about 40 of whom were full-bloods. In 1861,
393 were returned, but in 1910 only 147.
Nantucket: Mooney estimates the Indian population of Nantucket to have been
1,500 in 1600 and Mayhew (Speck, 1928) gives the same number in 1642. Hare
(1932, p. 44) also estimates the Indian population to have been 1,500. In 1763
there were 358; in 1790, 20; in 1809, 2 or 3.
An informant of Dr. Speck gives the total number of Indians in Barnstable,
Plymouth, and Bristol Counties in 1928 as 450.
Connection in which they have become noted
The
Wampanoag made their
mark in history chiefly through the activities of their chiefs,
Massasoit
and
King Philip.
One of the two largest bodies of Indians in southern New England to maintain
their identity, down to the present day were the Wampanoag of Martha's Vineyard.
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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