Squaw Sachem of Mistick

Squaw Sachem depicted as part of the Robbins Memorial Flagstaff in Arlington, Massachusetts

Squaw Sachem of Mistick (c. 1590-1650 or 1667[1]) a. k. a. "Massachusetts Queene"[2] was a prominent leader of a Massachusett tribe who deeded large tracts of land in eastern Massachusetts to early colonial settlers.

Squaw Sachem was the widow of Nanepashemet, the Sachem of the Pawtucket Confederation of Indian tribes, who died in 1619.[3] Her given name is unknown and she was known in official deeds as the "Squaw Sachem."[4] Squaw Sachem ruled the Pawtucket Confederation lands aggressively and capably after Nanepashmet's death. Around 1635, along with several other Native Americans, she deeded land in Concord, Massachusetts to colonists, and by that time she had remarried to a tribal priest, Wompachowet (also known as Webcowit or Webcowet).[5][6] In 1639 she deeded the land of what was then Cambridge and Watertown to the colonists,[7] an area that covers much of what is now the Greater Boston area, including Newton, Arlington, Somerville, Malden, and Charlestown. She lived her last years on the west side of the Mystic Lakes near what is now Medford, Massachusetts, where she died sometime between 1650 and 1667. She is remembered on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.[8] Her sons, Wonohaquaham, Montowampate, and Wenepoykin were tribal leaders as well. She is sometimes confused with other contemporary Squaw Sachems in the region, including Awashonks and Weetamoo.

  1. ^ "Squaw Sachem". 23 April 2008.
  2. ^ Bradford, William; Winslow, Edward; Dexter, Henry Martyn (1865). Mourt's relation or journal of the plantation at Plymouth. Harvard University. Boston, J. K. Wiggin. pp. 186 (online version), 126 (1800s paper edition), 58 (original).
  3. ^ "Queen of the Mystic: Squaw Sachem" Arlington Historical Society, https://arlingtonhistorical.org/queen-of-the-mystic-squaw-sachem/
  4. ^ "Queen of the Mystic: Squaw Sachem" Arlington Historical Society, https://arlingtonhistorical.org/queen-of-the-mystic-squaw-sachem/
  5. ^ M. A. HALEY, The Story of Somerville (Boston, 1903) https://archive.org/stream/storyofsomervill00haley/storyofsomervill00haley_djvu.txt
  6. ^ Shattuck, Lemuel, History of the Town of Concord, Mass. (Boston, 1835)
  7. ^ Hurd, Duane Hamilton (1890). History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 1. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  8. ^ "Charlestown". Boston Women's Heritage Trail.