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From: "Jane Mercier" <>
Subject: [MABARNST] Cape Cod Indians
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 12:51:25 -0400


Mercier, Jane


CHAPTER EIGHT

LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS

In November 1620, the MAYFLOWER, an English vessel containing the people known as the Pilgrims of New England, landed at Meeshawn or "the end of the trail" now Provincetown. On November 15th, that year, they were first seen by the Cape Indians. Because of the ill-treatment received by Captains Hunt and Harlow, they were very skeptical of these white people. They stood in the open, gazing at the invaders until they were seen by a white man. Then, fearing unfriendly motives, they went into the woods, calling their dogs, and traveled so that they could not be followed.

Soon after this incident, while the Pilgrims were exploring the "place of the bend", one of their number, William Bradford, was caught by his leg in a deer trap and found by his comrades, suspended in mid-air.

On another occasion, these "white invaders" came upon some mounds on a hill known today as Corn Hill. Digging into these mounds, they found a quantity of baskets full of corn, which they carried to their vessel. Their intentions may have been good, but the idea of their taking without permission marked them as thieves. An example of this is - if after a hard days work you came home to find that someone had stolen food you had stored after hard labor, you would not regard those who took it as honest. Naturally, that was the attitude the Indian took. An Indian is as human as his white brother and should be treated so. Indian laaw said, "It is all right for anyone to steal, but to get caught in the act of stealing is a crime and will be punished accordingly." Because of this and the severe penalty, there were few thieves in those days among the Indians, for whenever one stole he was always caught. Thus the penalty of that day, to punish "him who got caught" taught more !
to be honest than the law of today, strictly against stealing.

On November 27, 1620, the Pilgrims, on another of their exploring trips discovered a deserted Indian village, the Indians having journeyed to another Nauset village to participate in a celebration. This time, again without consent, they helped themselves to a number of baskets wrought of crabshells, wooden trays and bowls, and "hart's horns and eagle claws".

On December 6, 1620, the Nausets, arriving home to their village, discovered its loss. They attacked the Pilgrims. But the shots from the latter's muskets so frightened them that they fled. None were injured on either side. The place of this "battle" was near Great Meadow Creek, Eastham, and was named "The First Encounter".

After weeks of exploring, the Pilgrims re-united December 16th and set about in building their first settlement.

In July, 1621, a white boy, young John Billington, tired of playing with the other children, went exploring in the woods and became lost. He wandered to Cape Cod, where Aspinet, chief of the Cape Cod Indians, took him into his wigwam, changed his tattered garments for the ornamented buckskin suit of an Indian boy and fed him with a meal of "Indian food". When the boy was missed, ten settlers and two Indians sailed to Barnstable Bay, where they met Yanno, chief of the Upper Cape Indians. Yanno (also written Iyanno and Iyanough) was sagamoh of the Matakeesets. Ruler over him was Aspinet ("at the spring"), chief of the Cape Cod Indians, or Nausets, yet under the great Massasoit. While at Cummaquid the Pilgrims saw a Nauset woman over a hundred years of age, who was mother of three of Hunt's victims.

Yanno, accompanied by two of his men, took them to the noble Aspinet at Nauset, now Eastham. Chief At-the-Spring, himself, brought the boy to them. The lad was dressed entirely as an Indian boy, with strings of beads about his neck. While there the Pilgrims paid for the corn they had stolen at Corn Hill, thus gaining by their "honesty" the friendship of Aspinet. Thus was the pipe of peace smoked by the Cape Cod Indians with the Pilgrims.

The settlers then returned to Cummaquid with Yanno, where they were greatly entertained. The women and children joined hands in a dance before them, and Chief Yanno himself led the way to a spring that they might fill their water cask.

Young John Billington's expedition caused the feeling of brotherly love, respect, and friendship to come among the settlers and Cape Indians. At no time was friendship bound stronger between two people than in 1621, between the Cape Cod Wampanoags and the settlers. So greatly did Chief Aspinet treasure the friendship that the sent Apanoh (or Epanow) to Plymouth to sign a treaty between the Nauset Wampanoags (or Cape Cod Indians) and the settlers.

So well was this treaty kept that in November, 1621, when the FORTUNE was seen off the Cape, that the Indians at once notified the Pilgrims in fear tht it might be a hostile French ship.

Many members and descendants of members of the MAYFLOWER and FORTUNE parties intermarried with the Wampanoag Indians. Thus it might be said that the first marriages between Indians and whites in New England were on Cape Cod.

On the MAYFLOWER came the Winslows, Bradfords, Wings and many others, whose descendants are found today scattered over Cape Cod. On the FORTUNE came the Bassetts, Wixons, Doanes, Ellises and others. Robert Wixon, a white man, married the daughter of Chief Aspinet and we find that many of his children, grand, great, and great-great-grandchildren, married with Indians, so that early in the eighteen hundreds the white blood was extinct, but the name stayed. However, as the red man's population decreased and the white men increased, it necessitated the family to again intermarry with the "Cape Cod Yankees". One of these Indians, a Potanamaquit ("village on the Herring River") Nauset, fought in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, losing a leg in the service of the country. He returned to Potanamaquit to marry a white woman. His son, Captain Job Wixon, was a renowned sea captain of Brewster.

Chief Yanno in 1621 was about 26 years of age. Many historians have called him Iyanough, Janno or Iyanno. This name was caused by a misunderstanding. Yanno knew a few English words and when questioned as to his name he replied, "I (am) Yanno," from which comes "I Yanno" or Iyanough. The name signified "land-owner". One of the Pilgrims, Edward Winslow, wrote of him, "he was very personable, generous, gentle, courteous, cheerful and very handsome."

One thing which has never been forgotten by the historians are the words of Samoset, "Welcome, Englishman", those words which cheered the hearts of the tired Pilgrims.

The next chapter, chapter nine, deals with the first Thanksgiving, also the deaths of Aspinet and Yanno.
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CHAPTER NINE

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

Governor Bradford of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth set aside November 1, 1621, as a day to give thanks for the welfare of the community. He sent an invitation to Massasoit to be present for the occasion.

Massasoit (Chief Yellow Feather) at once sent for Aspinet, the sagamoh of the Cape Cod Indians. He also sent for the other sagmohs of the other Wampanoag divisions, who came with a number of lesser chiefs and men. The noble Aspinet came, accompanied by Yano, Apanoh and several others. The Indians brought in deer and turkeys. After the dinner, which was enjoyed by all, the whites and Indians each got recreation from their games and watching the various sports of each other.

DEATH OF CHIEFS ASPINET AND YANNO

In March 1622, Chief kCanacum of the Commassakumkanit (Herring Pond) village sold some corn to the Pilgrims. At the time, two Massachusetts Indians were present, talking in the Algonkin language to Canacum. They wished Canacum to enter in a plot with them, which he refused. They had asked Aspinet to aid them, but he had refused, saying, "Since my great chief (Massasoit) Yellow Feather (Ousamaquin) sees fit to be friends, and I and all the Cape Cod Indians are subjects of Massasoit, his policy is ours. Furthermore, I have no reason to harm them." And so for a time nothing was done.

Before the Pilgrims had come to this country, the Massachuset Indians were so few and the pestilence did so much harm to them, that their great chief buried the hatchet with the Wampanoags and acknowledged himself and tribe as subjects of the Massasoit of the Wampanoags. Thereby the supreme ruler of all Wampanoags became also the supreme chief of the Massachuset tribe.

But the Massachuset Indians disliked the white men and Massasoit's policy toward them, and when a tract of Massachuset land was sold by the Wampanoag ruler to the English, the Massachusets did not like it because they had given the Wampanoag ruler that authority. So when the Massachusets were caught in a plot near Weymouth, and their Chief Wittaumet was killed, some of the Cape Indians were said to be implicated.

Innocent Chief Aspinet, ruler of all Cape Cod Indians, was afraid his supreme chief Massasoit would think him guilty and that the Pilgrims and off-Cape Wampanoags would destroy his people. He fled to the swamps, where he was killed by disease, and there died one of the most prominent, noble and illustrious of the chiefs of the Cape Cod Indians. Chief Yanno, also afraid of being called guilty, as he was not, fled to a swamp in Mattakeese (now East Barnstable, or Hyannis). There he died, and almost 250 years later his bones were found, encased suitably and placed in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. The modern village of Hyannis, within the limits of the town of Barnstable, is named for Chief Yanno.

In December, 1626, the ship SPARROWHAWK, grounded on the flats of Monomoy. The captain was ill and the others knew not where they were, only that they were out of "wood, water, and beer". A group of Indians on the shore discovered the grounded ship and paddled their canoes to its side. They rescued crew and passengers and supplied their immediate needs.

THE PRAYING INDIANS

About 1623 the settlers sent missionaries among the Wampanoags. Among them were Eliot, Cotton, Bourne and Mayhew, each of whom played prominent parts in the history not only of the Cape Cod Indians, but also the entire Wampanoag nation. During the next century, many Wampanoag villages became Christianized and from then on were known as "Praying Wampanoags", but more often "Praying Indians".
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CHAPTER TEN

Part One

Before the coming of white men to these shores, a great war-like Indian nation dwelt in the great forests of eastern Connecticut. The name of these people was Pequa-auk or "destroyers." Later they were known as Pequods or Pequots. This tribe has no connection with the Indians of Cape Cod except through intermarriages, which were more or less frequent, in times of peace, between the New England tribes. The reason that this chapter is devoted to these people is because, since the year 1830 the Wampanoag Indians of Herring Pond, Mashpee, Lakeville and Plymouth have been under the impression that they were Pequots. This impression was created by William Apes, a Pequot, who became adopted into the Wampanoag tribe at Mashpee in 1830, and who was a famous Indian minister and lecturer among his adopted people in the years between then and his death. Mr. Apes published a book, "A son of the Forest", and other books containing the traditionary as well as the history and antiquit!
ies of the Pequots. Mr. Apes made unintentionaly, the greatest mistake of his life by calling King Philip "Chief of the Pequots." As a matter of fact, Philip was not born when the Pequot tribe was destroyed and the Wampanoag chiefs never claimed dominion over the Pequots, but on the contrary, the latter were "a terror to all their neighbors." The Cape Cod Indians, including the entire Wampanoag nation, were always enemies of the Pequots. Mr. Apes's mistake was caused when he confused the name Pequot with Pokanok, the original name of the Wampanoags.

To correct this error, this chapter of Pequot history is published, although it has no connection with the Indians of Cape Cod.

Part Two

Always since the time of the coming of white men, the Pequots were their enemies. Natural enemies of the Wampanoags, they were bitter indeed to find the first settlers and the Wampanoag nation to be such close friends. Many times had they met defeat from the Wampanoags at the hands of Great Chief Yellow Feather (Massasoit) who led by "head work", more than strength, his warriors to victory.

There were many occasions on which the settlers had murdered a Pequot, as well as vice versa. In 1637, after having some of their people cruelly slain by Pequots, the settlers decided at once to end the feud for all time.

Chief of the Pequot tribes was the warrior Sassacus. Twenty-six lesser chiefs paid him tribute, he wished to exterminate the settlers. At this time the Narragansetts and Pequots were enemies and Sassacus decided to make friends with the Narragansetts and by doing so to defeat both settlers and Wampanoags. So the Pequots and Narragansetts smoked the pipe of peace and made preparation for war, but Roger Williams, the friend of the Narragansetts, persuaded Canonicus, the chief of the Narragansetts, to keep at peace. They became enemies again with the Pequots and Sassacus determined to defeat the settlers alone.

The Pequots began by killing all white men who came their way. After the murders of Captains Stone, Norton and Underhill, the settlers sent their forces from Connecticut under Captain Mason, and from Massachusetts under Captain Israel Stoughton. The forces entirely surrounded the Pequot fort near Stonington and in the night while the Indians slept, they set fire to the wigwams and cruelly massacred over 600 men, women and children. Two of the English were killed and 20 wounded. Only seven of the Pequots of the fort escaped.

At this time, Great Chief Sassacus was in the other Pequot fort. With the 80 inhabitants of that fort, sole survivorws of the Pequots (except the 7 of the destroyed fort), he fled to the Mohawks, who beheaded him. One daughter of the great Sassacus married Sausamon, a Ponkapoag, and they were both later adopted as Wampanoags. Some say that a daughter of Sassacus fled to the Montauks of Long Island, where she married a Montauk chief. This princess, said to be named Tock-ah-mah-hamon, was mother of several. John Hammond, a Montauk, claimed descent from one of them. This John Hammond came to Mashpee where he married Rebecca Amos, daughter of blind Joseph Amos, Wampanoag preacher. His descendants claim the blood of Chief Sassacus and the Pequot and Montauk tribes, although they are mostly Wampanoag.

Part Three

In 1762, at the northeast part of Groton, Connecticut, was the Indian reservation of the Pequot tribe, where dwell some 20 or 30 families. This reservation was known as Maushantauxet.

The most prominent of these Pequot descendants were:

Charles Schuddaub and son Charles Jr., Ashbow, Abner
John Quinnemeezun
Sampson Quiumps
Jeffry Canujaugh; Pankeese; Abner; Charles; Sampson; Tuweese
Samuel Weezsul
Peter Meezun
Johnson Qui-umps
Jeffery Meezun
Dan Quaqcheetes
Jeffery Quaqcheetes
Neezohkunnump

In the year 1880, Eunice Manwee, the last pure-blooded Pequot Indian, died at Kent, Connecticut.

The present day descendants of the Pequot tribe live near Mystic and North Stonington, Connecticut. Their chiefs are Atwood I. Williams or "Silver Star", and Benjamin W. Dailey.
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