Total population | |
---|---|
Extinct as a tribe | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States ( Massachusetts) | |
Languages | |
an Eastern Algonquian language | |
Religion | |
Indigenous religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Algonquian peoples |
The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag.
Although the Nauset were a distinct tribe, they were often subject to Wampanoag rule and shared with them many similar aspects of culture, agricultural practices, and a common tongue, the Massachusett language. Living along the Atlantic Ocean, the Nauset relied heavily on seafood.
The tribe was one of the first to be visited by European explorers and colonists, who abducted some tribal members to sell into slavery in Spain and introduced diseases which reduced the Nauset population even before colonization of New England began on a large scale.
The Pilgrims' first contact with the Nauset was during the Mayflower's landing near present-day Provincetown, when they discovered a deserted village, the Nauset being away at their winter hunting grounds. Desperately low on supplies, the Pilgrims helped themselves to a cache of maize, though they left a note (in English) promising to pay for what they had stolen. The promise was eventually kept when the Nauset, led by Aspinet, [1] returned months later. The Nauset also returned a small boy who had wandered away from the colony and become lost, an act which greatly improved relations with nearby colonists. [2]
In subsequent years, the Nauset became the colonists' closest allies. Most became Christianized and aided the colonists as scouts and warriors against the Wampanoag during King Philip's War. Their numbers, always small, were further reduced. They intermarried with neighboring tribes and settlers after King Philip's War. [2]
Cape Cod is a hook-shaped peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.
Barnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 228,996. Its shire town is Barnstable. The county consists of Cape Cod and associated islands.
Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census.
Mashpee is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, one of two federally recognized Wampanoag groups.
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located slightly more than 100 miles (160 km) by road from Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape". English colonists named it after Truro in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Plymouth Colony was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 to 1691 and the second permanent English colony in America, after 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.
Orleans is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts situated along Cape Cod. The population was 6,307 at the 2020 census.
Plymouth is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown". Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims, where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. The town has served as the location of several prominent events, one of the more notable being the First Thanksgiving feast. Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 until the colony's merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The English explorer John Smith named the area Plymouth and the region 'New England' during his voyage of 1614. It was a later coincidence that, after an aborted attempt to make the 1620 trans-Atlantic crossing from Southampton, the Mayflower finally set sail for America from Plymouth, England.
King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between New England Indian tribes and New England colonists and their Indian allies. The war is named for Metacom, the Wampanoag chief who adopted the name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Mayflower Pilgrims. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678.
The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island, Their territory historically includes the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
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.
The Pokanoket was the village governed by Massasoit. The term broadened to refer to all peoples and lands governed by Massasoit and his successors, which were part of the Wampanoag people in what is now Rhode Island and 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.
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.
Nauset Regional High School is an NEASC accredited high school located in Eastham, Massachusetts, United States and a part of Nauset Public Schools. Nauset is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, making it the only high school on the East Coast located within a National Park. The open campus is situated about a half-mile from Nauset Light. Nauset's colors are Black and Gold and the school's mascot is the Warrior.
Pleasant Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean just north of the "elbow" of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. It is bounded on the east by a long peninsula and a barrier island, and harbors 7,825 acres (31.67 km2) of saltwater when the tide is in.
The Nauset Archaeological District is a National Historic Landmark District in Eastham, Massachusetts. Located within the southern portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this area was the location of substantial ancient settlements since at least 4,000 BC.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee on Cape Cod. The other Wampanoag tribe is the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Martha's Vineyard.
The Massachusett dialects, as well as all the Southern New England Algonquian (SNEA) languages, could be dialects of a common SNEA language just as Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are mutually intelligible languages that essentially exist in a dialect continuum and three national standards. With the exception of Massachusett, which was adopted as the lingua franca of Christian Indian proselytes and survives in hundreds of manuscripts written by native speakers as well as several extensive missionary works and translations, most of the other SNEA languages are only known from fragmentary evidence, such as place names. Quinnipiac (Quiripey) is only attested in a rough translation of the Lord's Prayer and a bilingual catechism by the English missionary Abraham Pierson in 1658. Coweset is only attested in a handful of lexical items that bear clear dialectal variation after thorough linguistic review of Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America and place names, but most of the languages are only known from local place names and passing mention of the Native peoples in local historical documents.
Nauset Public Schools, or the Nauset Regional School District, is a school district headquartered in Orleans, Massachusetts. In addition to Orleans its attendance area includes Brewster, Eastham, and Wellfleet.