Total population | |
---|---|
354 (2002).[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States of America (Massachusetts and Connecticut ). | |
Languages | |
English, Nipmuck, Massachusett | |
Religion | |
Christianity, Indigenous religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Nipmuc people, Massachusett, Wampanoag, Narragansett, Pennacook, Pocomtuc, Pequot, Mohegan and other Algonquian peoples |
The Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians, also known as the Chaubunagungamaug, Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck, Pegan or Dudley/Webster Indians, is a cultural heritage group that claims descent from the Nipmuc people. They are an unrecognized tribe, meaning they are neither federally recognized nor state-recognized, unlike the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band.[2]
Members claim to trace their ancestry to the historic Dudley/Webster Nipmuc tribal entity.[3] 87% of the membership of the Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug were able to document their descent from the Dudley/Webster Nipmuc when they (unsuccessfully) petitioned for federal acknowledgement.[4]
Contact with English settlers began in the 1630s, as the colonists began following the Indian trails to new settlements in the Pioneer Valley or the Pequot War (1634-1638). By the 1670s, the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck came under the nominal control of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and under the expanding missionary influence of the Rev. John Eliot, leading to the establishment of a 'Praying Town of Chabanakongkomun' in 1674.[5] After the ravages of King Philip's War (1675-1676), the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck were awarded a reservation in 1682. This reservation was sold in 1870, following the passage of the Massachusetts Indian Enfranchisement Act the year prior, forcing the tribe to disperse and assimilate into the surrounding communities.[1]
The Webster/Dudley Band incorporated in 1981. Private land in Webster, Massachusetts and Thompson, Connecticut is used by the group as its homebase.[6] Members worked closely with the Hassanamisco Nipmuc under Nipmuc Nation, especially in regard to federal recognition, but the group split from Nipmuc Nation in 1996. Many of the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck remain affiliated with Nipmuc Nation, where they are counted among the Hassanamisco Nipmuc. The group was denied federal recognition as an Indian tribe in 2001, 2004, and 2007 decisions from the Bureau of Indian Affairs due to their failure to meet three of the seven mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment.[7]