Hassanamisco Nipmuc

Flag of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band

The Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band is the sole state-recognized tribe in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They were recognized in 1976 by Governor Michael Dukakis via Executive Order 126.[1] They were briefly known as the Nipmuc Nation, a union of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc and the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck bands, during their attempt to receive federal acknowledgment as a Nation. The Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band owns three and a half acres of reservation land in what is present day Grafton, Massachusetts.[2] The Nipmuc are native to Central Massachusetts, Northeastern Connecticut, and parts of Rhode Island.[3]

In 1647, a Puritan reverend by the name of John Eliot created the Hassanmesit "praying town."[4] Through the creation and usage of this town, the Nipmuc people were forcefully converted to Christianity.[5] In 1727, a Nipmuc woman, Sarah Robins took possession of the land that is currently referred to as the Hassanamisco Reservation.[2] In the mid-1600s intermarriages between the Nipmuc people and African Americans became common, whether it be because of bonding over shared marginalization, or because of the dwindling numbers of available Native American men.[6]

There are nearly 600 members of the Nipmuc tribe living in Massachusetts today.[3] The Hassanamisco Reservation and Cisco Homestead in Grafton, Massachusetts are owned and used by the Nipmuc people.[2] In 2011, the reservation and homestead were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[7]

In 1980, the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band petitioned for federal recognition. They received preliminary approval before being ultimately denied.[8][9]

  1. ^ "No. 126: Massachusetts Native Americans | Mass.gov". www.mass.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "English Intensify Efforts to Convert" (PDF). Bridgewater State University. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  6. ^ Thee, Christopher J. (2006). "Massachusetts Nipmucs and the Long Shadow of John Milton Earle". The New England Quarterly. 79 (4): 636–654. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 20474497.
  7. ^ "HASSANAMISCO RESERVATION, GRAFTON, APPROVED FOR NOMINATION TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES" (PDF). sec.state.ma.us.
  8. ^ https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/bia-issues-proposed-finding-federal-acknowledgement-nipmuc-nation
  9. ^ "Final Determination - Hassanamisco Nipmuc Nation" (PDF). bia.gov.