Weetamoo

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Weetamoo
Pocasset Wampanoag leader
In office
? (?)–1676 (1676)
Preceded byCorbitant
Personal details
Born
Namumpum Weetamoo

1635 (1635)
present day North Tiverton, Rhode Island
DiedAugust 6, 1676(1676-08-06) (aged 40–41)
Taunton, Massachusetts
Cause of deathDrowning
Spouse(s)Winnepurket, Wamsutta (Alexander), Quequequanachet, Petonowit, and Quinnapin
ParentCorbitant (father)
Nicknames
  • Weetamoe
  • Wenunchus
  • Tatapanunum
Military service
Battles/warsKing Philip's War

Weetamoo (pronounced Wee-TAH-moo)[1] (c. 1635–1676), also referred to as Weethao, Weetamoe, Wattimore, Namumpum, and Tatapanunum, was a Pocasset Wampanoag Native American Chief. She was the sunksqua, or female sachem, of Pocasset tribe, which occupied contemporary Tiverton, Rhode Island in 1620.[2] The Pocasset, which she led, was one of groups of the Wampanoag.

In the Algonquian language of the Indigenous Peoples of the Northeastern United States and Canada, Weetamoo's name means "speak to them".[citation needed] She lived in Quequechan, now called Fall River, Massachusetts.[3]

Early life[edit]

Weetamoo was born in the Mattapoiset village of the Pokanoket or at Rhode Island's Taunton River area.[4] She was also close friends with another female sachem Awashonks. Weetamoo was also close friends with brothers Wamsutta and Metacomet as young girl. Weetamoo is an early example of gender fluidity. She performed duties of both male and female Native Americans. Weetamoo learned the ways of agriculture, building permanent and temporary shelters, prepare hides, hunting small animals, fishing, and cooking. Weetamoo was also trained to fight and learned diplomacy and leadership by observing her father and other elders like Massasoit. Her father was Corbitant, sachem of the Pocasset tribe in present-day North Tiverton, Rhode Island, c. 1618–1630.

Husbands and children[edit]

In her lifetime, she had five husbands: Winnepurket, Wamsutta (Alexander), Quequequanachet, Petonowit, and Quinnapin.

Her first husband, Winnepurket, was the Sachem of Saugus, Massachusetts and died shortly after they were married.

Wamsutta (alternatively known by the English as Alexander, a name which he retained until his death[2]), her second husband, was the eldest son of Massasoit, grand sachem of the Wampanoag and participant in the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. They were married in or before 1653,[3] and [it is speculated that] she had one child with Wamsutta, although the date of birth and name are unknown. During their marriage, the tribe allied with the English against the Narragansett, though the English later broke their treaty with the tribe. Wamsutta became sick and died during negotiations with the English and his brother Metacom (Philip) succeeded him as Chief of the Wampanoag. Metacom's wife was Weetamoo's sister, Wootonekanuske.[5]

Little is known about Weetamoo's third husband Quequequanachet, while she ended the marriage to her fourth husband Petonowit (called "Ben" by the English[3]) when he sided with the English during King Philip's War.

Her final marriage was to Quinnapin, the son of Niantic Narraganset sachem Ninigret and grandson of powerful Narragansett sachem Canonchet. He was described as "a handsome warrior" and they were married in September or August 1675.[6] This marriage was designed to strengthen and reinforce the Wampanoag-Narragansett alliance against colonists.[7] The marriage appeared to have been strong and the pair had at least one child together, who died in 1676.[8] Quinnapin was captured in 1676.[6]

Political career[edit]

Because her father had no sons, she became sunksqua between the death of her husband Wamsutta and her remarriage to Quequequanachet. Being a woman did not diminish her authority, despite many colonists' lack of understanding of her position. Weetamoo was depicted "as potent a Prince as any round about her, and had as much corn, land, and men, at her command" as King Philip. It has been theorized that some of the lesser-known sachems assumed to have been male may have been female sunksquas, especially since female leaders were not unheard of among the Algonquian tribes.[9] Her role in King Philip's War was significantly decreased by the English particularly byMary Rowlandson and Increase Mather. In reality, by 1675 Weetamoo was the leader of all allied tribes in the Wampanoag Confederation. In February of 1676, Weetamoo led a raid on the English in the Battle of Blood Rock that resulted in the capture of Mary Rowlandson. At the Battle of Blood Rock Weetamoo commanded an army of more than 300 warriors.

Weetamoo joined "with King Philip in fighting the colonists" in 1675, in King Philip's War, also known as "Metacomet's Rebellion." King Philip's War is named for the uprising of Metacomet, Weetamoo's brother in law and the younger brother of Wamsutta, who was also known by the English name Philip.[4] Early on in the war, Weetamoo gave support to Metacomet by aiding his forces with the strength of her soldiers.[4] Eventually, the English defeated the Wampanoag in August 1676.

Death[edit]

Weetamoo drowned in the Taunton River while leading a charge against the English in 1676. Her body washed ashore in Swansea which was a prominent English colony. The story of her corpse being beheaded comes from the writings of minister Increase Mather.[10] The English were so afraid of Weetamoo’s power, they cut off her head and mounted it on a pike. They left her head on display in front of a settlement in order to prove she really had died.

Legacy[edit]

Weetamoo/Wattimore appears in Mary Rowlandson's The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. In 1676, Weetamoo and her relative Quinnapin, the sachem of Narragansett, attacked a colonial settlement in Lancaster, Massachusetts.[10] Rowlandson, who was captured and held by Quinnapin for three months, left a vivid description of Weetamoo's appearance as well as personality:

A severe and proud dame she was, bestowing every day in dressing herself neat as much time as any of the gentry of the land: powdering her hair, and painting her face, going with necklaces, with jewels in her ears, and bracelets upon her hands. When she had dressed herself, her work was to make girdles of wampum and beads.[11]

Only women of rank were allowed to produce "Girdles of wampom and beads", and Weetamoo's production of these items reinforced her status. Wampum belts would be strung together with shells and were often used among Native Americans to deliver messages accompanied by speeches.[7] Many places in the White Mountains of New Hampshire are also named after her, such as Weetamoo Falls, Mount Weetamoo, the Weetamoo Trail (which includes Weetamoo Glen and Weetamoo Rock), and the Six Husbands Trail, a reference to her marriages. However, there is no evidence that Weetamoo ever went to the White Mountains, and the area's focus on her may come from John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "The Bridal of Penacook," which names her as being from the area.[12]

Weetamoo's adolescent life is depicted in the young adult historical novel, Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocasetts, in The Royal Diaries series.[13][14][15]

Weetamoo Woods Open Space in Tiverton, Rhode Island is named after Weetamoo.[16] A 50-foot vessel, Weetamoo, built in 1902, "was named after the daughter of an Indian Chief in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Bride of Penacook." The vessel served on Lake Sunapee for 25 years before being scuttled.[17] Lowell YWCA Camp Weetamoo is located on Long-Sought-for Pond in Westford, MA.[18][19]

To the Wampanoag people Weetamoo was a sunksqua, a bead worker, a dancer, a war chief, a storyteller, and so much more. Weetamoo was one of the best examples of a smart and intelligent sachems. She is also remembered for her remarkable beauty. Weetamoo was known as "Squaw Sachem."

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Life Story: Weetamoo". Women & the American Story. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  2. ^ a b Martinez, Donna; Williams Bordeaux, Jennifer L., eds. (2016). 50 Events That Shaped American Indian History: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 139.
  3. ^ a b c Peirce, Ebenezer W. (1878). Indian History, Biography and Genealogy: Pertaining to the Good Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag Tribe, and His Descendants. North Abington, MA: Z.G. Mitchell. pp. 37–51.
  4. ^ a b c Sonneborn, Liz (2014-05-14). A to Z of American Indian Women. Infobase Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-4381-0788-2.
  5. ^ Silverman, David (2019). This Land Is Their Land. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 352.
  6. ^ a b Martino-Trutor, Gina M. (2015). "As Potent a Prince as any Round About Her". Journal of Women's History. 27 (3). doi:10.1353/jowh.2015.0032. S2CID 142629136.
  7. ^ a b Herrmann, Rachel B. (2015). ""Their Filthy Trash": Taste, Eating, and Work in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative" (PDF). Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas. 12 (1–2): 45–70. doi:10.1215/15476715-2837496.
  8. ^ Ellen, Snodgrass, Mary (2018). American colonial women and their art : a chronological encyclopedia. Lanham, Maryland. ISBN 9781442270961. OCLC 985447825.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Mays, Dorothy A. (2004). Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival, and Freedom in a New World. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 207.
  10. ^ a b Joyce Appleby; Eileen K. Cheng; Joanne L. Goodwin, eds. (2015). Encyclopedia of Women in American History. New York: Routledge. p. 199.
  11. ^ ""A Severe and Proud Dame She Was": Mary Rowlandson Lives Among the Indians, 1675". History Matters. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  12. ^ Boardman, Julie (2001). When Women and Mountains Meet. Etna, New Hampshire: The Durand Press. p. 141.
  13. ^ "An Interview with Patricia Clark Smith about Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets". Scholastic.com. (Rhode Island-Massachusetts, 1653). Retrieved 2013-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  14. ^ "Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets Discussion Guide". Scholastic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  15. ^ Scholastic Corporation - The Royal Diaries, Weetamoo: Heart of Pocassets
  16. ^ "Recreation Department and Open Space Areas". Official Web Site of Tiverton, RI. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  17. ^ "Lake Sunapee History". Lake-Sunapee-Living.com. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  18. ^ "The Greater Lowell YWCA, One Hundred Years of Service and Advocacy 1891-1991". University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Lowell History. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  19. ^ "Walter Cleven Obituary: Walter Cleven's Obituary by the Lowell Sun". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2013-04-24.

Sources[edit]

  • Martino-Trutor, Gina M. (2015). "As Potent a Prince as any Round About Her: Rethinking Weetamoo of the Pocassett and Native Female Leadership in Early America". Journal of Women's History. 27 (3): 37–60. doi:10.1353/jowh.2015.0032. S2CID 142629136.
  • Lisa Tanya Brooks. 2018. Our Beloved Kin : A New History of King Philip’s War. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  • Mary White Rowlandson. 1998. The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson : First Printed in 1682 at Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, Whereunto Are Annexed a Map of Her Removes & Biographical & Historical Notes. Sandwich: Chapman Billies, L.
  • Patricia Clark Smith. 2003. Weetamoo : Chief of the Pocassets. New York: Scholastic.
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