Aspinet (Nauset)

Last updated

Aspinet (died c. 1623) was a sagamore of the Nauset people. [1]

On June 11, 1621, a child named Johnny Billington went missing from the Plymouth Colony after getting lost in the woods. Upon request from the colonists, Aspinet found the boy and brought him back to them. [2] [3] This act, alongside his willingness to provide the colonists with food, led to him being noted as a boon to the colonists. [1]

Aspinet died sometime in 1623 after being driven into hiding by the Plymouth colonists. While it is unclear exactly what circumstances he died under, he was allegedly the leader of a group of sagamores seeking to drive out the Plymouth colonists, a plan which was foiled when Massasoit (sagamore of the Wampanoag) warned colonial leaders. [1] Some writers, such as Alvin G. Weeks, believed that Aspinet was confused with Epenow as a member of this plot. [4] He was succeeded as sagamore by a Nauset man named George. [5]

Aspinet is named in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem The Courtship of Miles Standish as a sagamore, alongside Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, and Tokamahamon. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Alden</span> Crew member on the Mayflower

John Alden was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the Mayflower which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. He was hired in Southampton, England as the ship's cooper, responsible for maintaining the ship's barrels. He was a member of the ship's crew and not a settler, yet he decided to remain in Plymouth Colony when the Mayflower returned to England. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myles Standish</span> English military officer hired by the Pilgrims (1584–1656)

Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Colony</span> English colonial venture in America (1620–1691)

Plymouth Colony was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on the Mayflower at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of Massachusetts. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American folklore, including the American tradition of Thanksgiving and the monument of Plymouth Rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metacomet</span> Elected chief of the Wampanoag Indians

Metacomet, also known as Pometacom, Metacom, and by his adopted English name King Philip, was sachem to the Wampanoag people and the second son of the sachem Massasoit. His older brother Wamsutta briefly became sachem after their father's death in 1661. However, Wamsutta also died shortly thereafter and Metacom became sachem in 1662.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Philip's War</span> 1675–78 war in New England

King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, the English New England Colonies and their indigenous allies. The war is named for Metacom, the Pokanoket chief and sachem of the Wampanoag who adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squanto</span> Native American contact of the Pilgrims

Tisquantum, more commonly known as Squanto, was a member of the Wampanoag Patuxet tribe best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southern New England and the Mayflower Pilgrims who made their settlement at the site of Tisquantum's former summer village, now Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Patuxet tribe had lived on the western coast of Cape Cod Bay, but an epidemic infection wiped them out, likely brought by previous European explorers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samoset</span> 17th-century Abenaki sagamore; first American Indian to contact the Plymouth Colony

Samoset was an Abenaki sagamore and the first American Indian to make contact with the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in New England. He startled the colonists on March 16, 1621 by walking into Plymouth Colony and greeting them in English, saying "Welcome, Englishmen."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wampanoag</span> Native American tribes in Massachusetts

The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island. Their historical territory includes the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massasoit</span> Leader of the Wampanoag confederacy

Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. Massasoit means Great Sachem. Massasoit was not his name but a title. English colonists mistook Massasoit as his name and it stuck.

<i>The Courtship of Miles Standish</i> 1858 poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the Mayflower Pilgrims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusett</span> Historic Native American tribe from Massachusetts

The Massachusett were a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills overlooking Boston Harbor from the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priscilla Alden</span> Member of Massachusettss Plymouth Colony of Pilgrims

Priscilla Alden was a noted member of Massachusetts's Plymouth Colony of Pilgrims and the wife of fellow colonist John Alden. They married in 1621 in Plymouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iyannough</span>

Iyannough was an American Indian sachem and leader of the Mattachiest tribe of Cummaquid in the area of what is now Barnstable, Massachusetts. The village of Hyannis, the Wianno section of Osterville, and Iyanough Road are all named after him.

Hobbamock was a Pokanoket pniese who came to live with the Plymouth Colony settlers during the first year of their settlement in North America in 1620. His name was variously spelled in 17th century documents and today is generally simplified as Hobomok. He is known for his rivalry with Squanto, who lived with the settlers before him. He was greatly trusted by Myles Standish, the colony's military commander, and he joined with Standish in a military raid against the Massachuset. Hobomock was also greatly devoted to Massasoit, the sachem of the Pokanoket, who befriended the English settlers. Hobomok is often claimed to have been converted to Christianity, but what that meant to him is unclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sachem Rock Farm</span> United States historic place

Sachem Rock Farm is a historic farm at 355 Plymouth Street in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States. The farm location is important for a variety of reasons. Its earliest historical association is with the Wampanoag people, who are known to have used the area, particularly around Sachem Rock, a granite outcrop they called Wonnocoote (Wonnocooto) that is the property's high point, prior to European contact. Sachem Rock itself is historically significant as the site of a meeting in 1649 between English settlers from the Plymouth Colony, including Myles Standish, with the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit. In this meeting the colonists purchased rights to a large tract of land, including East and West Bridgewater, Bridgewater, and Brockton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Pabodie</span> The first white child born in New England.

Elizabeth Pabodie, also known as Elizabeth Alden Pabodie or Elizabeth Peabody, was the first white child born in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patuxet</span> Village in Massachusetts, United States

The Patuxet were a Native American band of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. They lived primarily in and around modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and were among the first Native Americans encountered by European settlers in the region in the early 17th century. Most of the population subsequently died of epidemic infectious diseases. The last of the Patuxet – an individual named Tisquantum, who played an important role in the survival of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth – died in 1622.

Wessagusset Colony was a short-lived English trading colony in New England located in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between 50 and 60 colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. The colony was settled without adequate provisions, and was dissolved in late March 1623 after harming relations with local Indians. Surviving colonists joined Plymouth Colony or returned to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony by six years.

Pecksuot was a warrior of a Massachusett tribe led by Chickatawbut in the early 17th century until his death c. 1623. He was killed by Myles Standish either in 1624 in the battle at Wessagusset Colony as immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish or, more probably, during a dinner arranged by Standish in 1623.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annawan (chief)</span> Sachem of the Wampanoag

Annawan was a military leader and advisor of the Wampanoag. As head captain under sachem Massasoit, Annawan fought wars with rival New England Indian tribes and became renowned as a warrior. Under Massasoit's son, Metacomet, Annawan, as head chief, led the Wampanoag war effort against the Plymouth colonists.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gille, Frank H., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Massachusetts Indians: Tribes, Nations and People of the Plains Eastern Woodlands. Somerset Publishers. pp. 71–72. ISBN   9780403093304.
  2. Heath, Dwight B., ed. (1963). A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth: Mourt's Relation. Cornith Books. pp. 69–71.
  3. Deyo, Simeon, ed. (1890). History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. p. 16.
  4. Weeks, Alvin G. (1919). "John Billington lost in the Woods". Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
  5. Delucia, Christine (2019). "Terrapolitics in the Dawnland: Relationality, Resistance, and Indigenous Futures in the Native and Colonial Northeast". The New England Quarterly. 92 (4): 572. doi: 10.1162/tneq_a_00789 . JSTOR   26858281. S2CID   208223635 via JSTOR.
  6. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1858). The Courtship of Miles Standish  via Wikisource.
  7. Tucker, Edward L. (1983). "Longfellow's Bowdoin Dialogue". Studies in the American Renaissance: 94. JSTOR   30227510 via JSTOR.