Narraganset
The Narragansett (also Narragansett ) are a Native American nation from the Algonquian - language family . At the time of their first contact with the whites, they were mainly resident on islands in Narragansett Bay, in what is now the US state of Rhode Island and in eastern Massachusetts . The Narraganset are related to the traditionally neighboring Massachusett , Wampanoag and the Eastern Niantic .
Surname
Narraganset is an English form of the Algonquin word Nanhigganeuck and means people in a small place . The Dutch called them Nahican . This name first appeared on Adriaen Block's map from 1614. Other synonyms are Nahigonsick, Nahiggonike, Nahigonset and Narriganset . Often the Narraganset called themselves simply Ninuog ('humans' or 'the human beings'). On the other hand, they referred to the pilgrim fathers who were strangers to them simply as Awaunagesuck ('the strangers'), the whites were also generally called Waumpeshau ('white people').
language
The Narragansett language , like the closely related idioms of Pequot , Mohegan , Niantic and Montaukett, belongs to the Eastern Algonquin languages . Some tribe members still speak the original Algonquian language today, although it was already extinct and could only partially be learned again from books from the early 20th century. Roger Williams , the co-founder of Rhode Islands, mastered the language and described it in a documentary A Key into the Language of America published in 1643 . Williams gave the tribal name with Nanhigganeuck . A number of English terms come from the Narraganset language, for example quahog (type of shell), papoose (Indian infant), powwow (Indian festival), squash (type of pumpkin) and succotash (dish made from beans and corn).
residential area
The Narraganset formed a confederation in the 17th century , which consisted of the rulership of several sachems (Engl. Sachemdom). A sachemdom was the limited hereditary territory of a particular tribe, such as the Narraganset, Coweset, or Eastern Niantic. These were each ruled by members of a dominant patrilineal family and were in turn divided into smaller sachem domes, which were led by less powerful sachems. The Narraganset Sachemdom comprised the southern part of what is now Kent County , as well as Dutch and Conanicut Island and almost all of Washington County .
In the 17th century, the Narraganset's residential area consisted of four different landforms: seashores, forests, rivers and ponds. The western shore of Narragansett Bay and the adjacent coast of Block Island Sound consisted of inlets, marshland and shallow beaches, abundant with crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, fish and waterfowl. Chestnuts, oaks, hickory trees, maples, birches and pines were found in the adjacent mixed forest, and it was interrupted by streams, swamps, clear springs, low hills and cliffs. Here deer, elk, bears, wolves, foxes and squirrels could be hunted or caught in traps. In the rivers and streams such as the Pawtuxet, Blackstone, Queens, Pawcatuck, and Pocasset Rivers, the Narraganset caught fish and beavers, while the banks of the freshwater ponds served as settlement sites for fish and waterfowl.
Groups of the Narraganset
| group | residential area |
|---|---|
| Coweset | on the middle Pawtuxet River near Coventry, Rhode Island |
| Narragansett | southern Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay |
| Eastern Niantic | extreme south of Rhode Island, coast at Block Island Sound |
| Pawtuxet | near Providence, Rhode Island , at the mouth of the Pawtuxet River |
| Shawonet | on the middle Pawtuxet River near West Warwick in Rhode Island |
Culture
The Europeans noticed the Narraganset because of their busy trade in self-made shell jewelry and wampum . It is also known of them that the men often had more than one wife and burned their personal belongings during a winter ritual. Until their almost complete annihilation in 1675 and 1676, they were the most powerful and most populous tribe in southern New England.
Way of life
The Narraganset, like most New England tribes, moved in the cycle of the seasons to their main sources of food in the forest, in the fields and in the water. In the first warm spring days, they built their houses in the fields, which were often near the coast, and planted corn, beans and squash . Then they built small huts in the middle of the fields to guard the sprouting seeds. All family members had the task of protecting the young plants from the birds, especially at dawn. The move in the middle of summer had two reasons: first, to avoid the fleas, and second, to cultivate more distant fields. The summer house resembled a round wigwam with posts stuck into the ground, bent inward over a fire, and tied at the top. The wigwam was covered with birch and chestnut bark on the outside, covered with mats on the inside and there was a smoke outlet at the highest point. Such a summer house could be dismantled and transported in a few hours.
In August the Narraganset harvested the corn, dried it on mats in the sun and stored it in underground hiding places as winter supplies. The English settlers hated these deep, mat-covered holes in the ground. They called this facility Indian barns and didn't like it because their grazing cattle often fell through the mats.
The harvest ended with the beginning of the hunting season in September, which lasted into winter. The hunters built small huts out of bark and brushwood in the forest, where deer and other game had been seen in the previous months. If the hunting area was not too far from the village, the hunters would take their wives and children with them. The most important seasonal move of the year took place in late autumn, from the summer fields to the winter quarters in the wooded valleys. The winter wigwam was a long house covered with bark and matting. It could accommodate up to 20 families and the choice of location was based on the availability of firewood.
technology
A way of life that required frequent changes of location did not allow the possession of numerous, bulky tools. The Narraganset therefore preferred multi-purpose devices that could be easily made on the spot and left lying around when moving. Objects that took longer to produce had to be as light as possible. Exceptions to this rule, such as large ceramic jugs and heavy wooden mortars, were usually left in the camp or village for use the next time they were there.
The most important weapon for hunting and war was the bow and arrow. The bows used in the Cape Cod area around 1603 were made of hazelnut (witch hazel, genus Hamamelis), five to six feet long, painted black and yellow, and three stretched twisted tendons. The approximately 95 cm long wooden arrows, to which three long black feathers were attached, were transported in rush quivers. There were also elderberry arrows, which consisted of a loosely fitting front part in a matching main shaft so that the main shaft could be reused while the point got stuck in the hit game or enemy.
Arrowheads were made of stone, antler tips, eagle toes, bones and crab tails or the arrows were simply sharpened. Soon after the arrival of the Europeans, the Indians began to replace this original material with iron, copper and brass. Metal arrowheads are often found at archaeological sites. They are both of European origin and made by the Indians from used kettles and other metal objects.
The dugout canoe made of pine, oak or chestnut could be made by one man using stone tools in 10–12 days. The largest boats were 40 or 50 feet (12.20 to 15.25 m) long and could accommodate 40 people.
building
The Narraganset lived in houses of different sizes of almost identical construction. Long flexible rods were driven into the ground at equal intervals around the area to be built over, bent until they touched the rod on the opposite side, and then tied together. Smaller horizontal bars were then connected to the vertical ones to stabilize the scaffolding, and the entire structure was covered with pieces of bark and woven mats.
Smaller houses for two families were usually round, about 14-16 feet (4.27 to 4.88 m) in diameter, covered with matting, with a central hearth, a square hole in the roof over the fire, and a low, mat-draped hole Door opening. If you moved, the scaffolding was left behind, but the mats could be rolled up and transported to the new storage area. There were also larger buildings, apparently mainly for winter stays, when the population concentrated more. There have been reports of houses up to 100 feet long by 30 feet wide (30.48 m by 9.14 m) containing a row of 2 to 4 fire pits and seating 40-50 people. The interior consisted of mats and skins that were placed directly on the floor or on low, wooden platforms about 30-40 cm high. Two forked branches were stuck in the ground on either side of the fire so that they held a pole from which saucepans hung. In rainy weather, when the smoke outlet was at least partially blocked, the residents sometimes had to lie on the floor to avoid the worst smoke.
Division of labor
The main burden of the day's work lay with the women, while the men were responsible for the hunt, the fishing, the tobacco growing, the posts for the wigwam and the making of canoes. Some also specialized in making bows and arrows or wampum . Old men made coats from turkey feathers. Women's work included household chores, field work, moving loads when moving, collecting mussels, weaving baskets and weaving mats.
religion
The powwow or shaman was always a man and had learned his calling through a dream or a vision. He oversaw the public rituals performed regularly at harvest time and in the middle of winter . Furthermore, there were rituals in critical situations for the individual or the whole tribe, such as drought, famine, disease and war. The harvest ritual took place in a special longhouse near the Sachem's residence. It attracted many participants and lasted for several days, during which there were partying, dancing and distributing gifts that had previously been collected for this purpose by wealthy tribe members.
trade
From around the middle of the 17th century, English merchants also accepted wampum as a generally accepted means of payment. Wampum was made from snail clams by the Long Islands , Connecticut coast, and Rhode Islands Indians , particularly Shinnecock , Pequot, and Narraganset. In addition, bartering was common and people exchanged mainly furs, but also land and food for brass pots, bells, thimbles, fishhooks, iron axes, knives, awls, picks, spoons, glass bottles, necklaces, English fabrics and items of clothing.
In addition to the goods of their own local environment, the Narraganset procured valuable products from more distant areas through participation in a trading network that existed long before contact with Europeans.
The European-Indian trade began early in the 17th century. Most of the early explorers of southeastern New England noticed the presence of copper earrings, bracelets, pendants, and breastplates. They could have got the copper from European visitors as well, but it is more likely that it came from Maine and Nova Scotia Indians, who first got the copper from European fishermen and fur traders and then got it on the well-functioning Native American coastal trade route brought south. The transport of goods within New England did not normally require long distances, rather each group traded with its immediate neighbors and so the goods could be passed on from neighbor to neighbor.
history
First contacts with Europeans
When the English established their first colony in New England in 1620, the Narraganset were among the most powerful and feared tribes in the region. The first known description of the Narragansett comes from Giovanni da Verrazzano , who visited Narraganset Bay in the spring of 1524:
- These are the best looking people with the most civilized manners that we met on this trip. They are taller than we have grown ... with finely chiseled faces ... their eyes are black and clear and they are of a noble nature, very much like people from ancient times.
The Narraganset were largely spared from the devastating epidemics caused by European diseases that struck New England and the maritime provinces of Canada between 1614 and 1620, because their villages on the islands in Narraganset Bay were isolated from the mainland. Their population remained relatively stable, while neighboring tribes lost 50 percent or more of their loved ones. The Narraganset were able to develop into the most powerful people in southern New England, also through the immigration of survivors from other tribes. They subjugated some of their neighbors and made them pay tribute, which was usually done in Wampum. By 1620 the Narraganset had already gained some experience with Europeans and were busy trading with the Dutch from New Amsterdam .
The Wampanoag were among the subjugated neighbors and lived in southeastern Massachusetts, right between the Narraganset in Rhode Island and the Pilgrim Fathers who had just arrived in Plymouth . They welcomed the new settlement and sought an alliance with the English, a process that was viewed with suspicion by the Narraganset.
Sachem Canonicus
In January 1622 the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth received a message of war from the Narragansett-Sachem Canonicus in the form of a bundle of arrows wrapped in snake skin, which they answered with bullets wrapped in the same snake skin. This began the fear of the English of an impending attack by the Narragansett, which would last until the outbreak of the King Philip's Wars . The English built a fort to protect the tiny colony. But the Narraganset now had other worries as new enemies threatened them. In 1622 they were attacked by the Pequot, who claimed and conquered a controversial hunting ground in southwestern Rhode Island. The following year there was a lengthy war with the Mohawk . In the meantime, the Plymouth Colony had grown and a greater number of English Puritans had settled on Massachusetts Bay.
Sachem Canonicus avoided the English colonists, but could not ignore the betrayal of the Wampanoag. In 1632 he decided to subdue them again, but the English supported the Wampanoag, so that the Narraganset had to withdraw. In 1633, New England was hit by another series of epidemics, and the Narraganset lost 700 members to smallpox for the first time.
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (1603–1683) is considered the founder of American Baptism and a champion of religious freedom. He was also convinced that the English king had no right to claim Indian land. Not hesitating to express his opinion publicly, the Puritans banished him from Massachusetts and labeled him a dangerous radical . In 1636 he was forced to go to the Narraganset residential area, where he bought land from them and founded the Rhode Island colony. His correct behavior towards the Indians ushered in a long period of mutual trust and respect that only ended with the outbreak of King Philip's Wars in 1675.
English colonists began to settle Connecticut in 1636 when the Dutch left. Tensions arose between the Puritan settlers and the Pequot , at the time the most powerful tribe in the region, and the incidents increased. When a ship's captain named John Oldham was killed by some Western Niantic on Block Island in 1636 , the English leadership sent an expedition of 80 volunteers under John Endecott with orders to kill the Indian warriors on Block Island and to take their wives and children prisoner and occupy the island. They killed 14 Niantics, burned their village and crops, and then carried out a similar attack on a Pequot village in eastern Connecticut. The following winter, the Pequot planned a vengeance campaign and asked the Narraganset for help. Roger Williams's influence resulted in the Narraganset not only rejecting the request, but also warning and ally with the English in Boston. The alliance with the Narraganset was key to England's victory over the Pequot the following year.
Pequot war
The English leadership at Hartford formally declared war, later known as the Pequot War , after the Pequot attacked English settlements on the Connecticut River in April 1637, killing 30 colonists. In May, a small army of 90 colonists and 70 Mohegan warriors, led by Captain John Mason, moved south from Hartford to destroy the main fortified village of the Pequot on the Mystic River . Canonicus sent 200 Narraganset warriors under the leadership of his son Miantonomo to help and allowed the colonists from Massachusetts to march across Narraganset land, which could lead a surprise attack from the other side.
There were around 700 Pequot in the Mystic Fort, mostly women, children and old people, because the young warriors were on a campaign against English settlements. On May 25, 1637, the Pequot fort was surrounded by Captain Mason's troops and set on fire. The residents tried to flee but were driven back into the flames and about 500 Pequot lost their lives. Captain Mason, who had the order to exterminate the Pequot, pursued the fled Indians with his command, either killed them down or put them in chains.
The Mystic massacre broke the Pequot's will to resist. The remaining members of the tribe left their villages and mostly fled in small groups to neighboring tribes, where they were either taken in or killed. The English were determined to destroy the Pequot. Many of the captured warriors were executed, and women and children were sold as slaves to the West Indies. In the peace treaty signed in Hartford in 1638, the Narraganset 80 of the captured Pequot were handed over as slaves and the Mohegan received the same number. About 1,500 Pequot and Western Niantic who had previously surrendered were turned over to the allied Mohegan Sachem Uncas . The Narraganset and Mohegan also pledged not to attack each other any more. That was the end of the formerly powerful Pequot tribe.
Sachem Miantonomo
After the Mohegan allied themselves with the English in Connecticut at the instigation of Uncas, they began subjugating smaller neighboring tribes and taking tribute from them, as from various Mattabesic and Nipmuck groups. With the addition of so many Pequot, the Mohegan suddenly became a serious rival to the Narraganset, who viewed these activities with increasing suspicion.
Sachem Miantonomo tried to win allies against the Mohegan. Accompanied by 100 warriors, he visited the Montauk on Long Island in 1642 , the Mattabesic in western Connecticut and the Mahican and Wappinger in the valley of the Hudson River . But few of these tribes were ready for the alliance.
When Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Hartford and New Haven merged to form the New England Confederation in 1643 , Rhode Island was deliberately ignored. Despite Miantonomo's best efforts, the Narraganset found themselves almost on their own and decided to deal with the Mohegan on their own. Without informing the English, who would probably have warned the Mohegan, Miantonomo led 900 warriors to a surprise attack on the main Mohegan village of Shetucket, where Uncas also resided. The Mohegan were on the verge of defeat when they managed to catch Miantonomo. The loss of their sachem shocked the Narraganset and they broke off the fight. Uncas surrendered his prominent prisoner to the English at Hartford. After consulting with their compatriots in Massachusetts, they decided that Miantonomo could return to his people. The colonists escorted him to Shetucket when Miantonomo was killed with a tomahawk from behind by Uncas' brother . It is very doubtful that this execution took place without the express permission of the English authorities.
With the death of Miantonomos, the domination of the Narraganset in southern New England came to an end. In 1653 Narraganset warriors crossed Long Island Sound and subjugated the Montauk at the east end of the island. But the campaign angered the English, who had settled on the south coast in Southampton in 1640 . They threatened the Narraganset with war and so they withdrew again across the sound. Canonicus died in 1647 and was succeeded by his grandson Canonchet as a sachem, who continued the friendship with Roger Williams.
King Philip's War
After the death of the Wampanoag Sachem Massasoit in 1661, his eldest son Wamsutta followed , but after a short time he died under mysterious circumstances. He was succeeded by his younger brother Metacomet , whom the English called King Philip . Philip was by no means a radical sachem, but under his leadership there was a dramatic change in the Wampanoag's attitude towards the colonists. By now it had become clear to them that the English would gradually take everything away from them, both their land and their traditional culture, way of life and religion. Other tribes shared this fear, and King Philip found listening ears when he secretly began organizing a large-scale insurrection. His secret plans were soon revealed, however, as a network of informants warned the English. These asked King Philip several times to explain his plans and to sign peace or friendship treaties.
Although he did so, he continued to prepare for the uprising. Around 1674 he had persuaded the Narraganset against the objection of the meanwhile grown old Roger Williams to take part in the uprising. In 1674 the number of colonists doubled that of the natives. If he wanted any chance of success, King Philip needed the Narraganset. In late June 1675, a wampanoag was killed near the English settlement of Swansea , and that began the King Philip's War . The Wampanoag raided Swansea, Taunton , Tiverton and Dartmouth in southeastern Massachusetts. Despite the warnings and their outnumber, the English ran into big problems. The Wampanoag and its allies were well armed with firearms by the French, but also by the English themselves.
Great swamp massacre
The English put pressure on the Narraganset to immediately sign a neutrality treaty with them. The Narraganset fled their villages and sought refuge from the war in a large fortified camp in the middle of a swamp in what is now South Kingstown , Rhode Island. As a precaution, King Philip also brought his family to the Narraganset fort. The English saw this as a breach of the pact of neutrality with the Narraganset, and in December a colonial army of 1,000 men, along with 150 Mohegan scouts , appeared and besieged the Narraganset fort in the swamp. They asked Canonchet to hand over the King Philips family. After Canonchet had rejected the demand, the English under Captain Church managed to penetrate the village and set the huts on fire. Many Indians fled into the swamp and watched in impotent anger as women, children and old people burned alive. In this battle, which as Great Swamp Massacre (English Great Swamp Massacre ) became known, the Narragansett lost more than 600 tribal members and 20 sachems.
A large number of Narraganset warriors under Canonchet managed to flee west. After the union with King Philips troops, Canonchet led several raids on English settlements on the Connecticut River in February 1676 and in March he was able to lure Captain Wadsworth into an ambush and almost destroy his unit. Soon, however, hunger became a greater enemy than the English. In April Canonchet returned to Rhode Island to collect seeds from a secret hiding place for Philip. On the march back, Canonchet was captured by Mohegan, handed over to the British and later shot by a firing squad.
consequences of war
The 3,000 surviving Narraganset, mostly women, children and old people, were hunted down mercilessly and in 1676 alone the English sold over 500 women and children from Plymouth as slaves to the West Indies. Almost all of the captured warriors were executed. How many of them found refuge with the Abenaki , Mahican and Iroquois is largely unknown. Of the nearly 5,000 Narraganset before the war, fewer than 500 survived and signed a peace treaty with the English in 1682. The Eastern Niantic had remained neutral during the war and were given a small reservation near Charlestown in Rhode Island, where the remnants of the Narraganset were also allowed to move. For the group thus formed, however, the name Niantic did not prevail, but the name Narraganset remained , perhaps also because the Niantic were originally only a part of the tribe. Some also went to the Mohegan in Connecticut. In 1788, many of the Narraganset left the Rhode Island reservation and Mohegan villages to join the Brotherton Indians in the Oneida Reserve in New York. The Brotherton Indians were relocated to northern Wisconsin with the Oneida and Stockbridge Indians in 1822 and 1834 , and many of their descendants still live in Wisconsin on the east side of Lake Winnebago .
Sachems of the Narraganset
| Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tashtassuck | Historically uncertain | ||
| Wessoum | Son of the predecessor | Historically uncertain, his sister is said to have married | |
| Canonicus | until 1636 | Son of the predecessor | |
| Miantonomo | 1636 to 1643 | Nephew of the predecessor | |
| Canonicus | 1643 to 1647 | Uncle of the predecessor | 2. Dignity of chief |
| Mriksah | 1647 to 1667 | Son of the predecessor | |
| Canonchet | 1667 to 1676 | Great cousin of the predecessor | |
| interregnum | 1676 to 1682 | In 1682 the remaining Narraganset join the eastern Niantic |
Todays situation
With the growing number of colonists, the game disappeared from the hunting grounds in southern Rhode Island. The colonists also introduced domestic pigs to graze on the coast and dig up the clams on the beach - the traditional food source of the Narraganset. Despite the problems, most of the Narraganset remained in Rhode Island. The state unilaterally lifted tribal status in 1880 and the Narraganset lost about 1.3 km² of their reservation. The sachem's position as traditional leader was also abolished and its powers were transferred to a council consisting of five people. The tribal members, however, continued to follow the sachem rather than the councilors. Since 1935, an annual meeting known as Rhode Island Indian Day has been held on the second weekend in April . The Narragansett Tribe of Indians was founded in December 1934 and on April 11, 1983, the Narraganset received federal recognition and acknowledgment . As of 2003, the official tribal name was Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island , used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs . Ancestors of former US President George W. Bush and his father George HW Bush may have descended from the Narraganset.
Demographics
| year | number | annotation | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1600 | 4,000 | Narraganset + Östl. Niantic | James Mooney |
| 1675 | 2,000 | warrior | Thomas u. Richard Stanton |
| 1676 | 100 | Survivors in Rhode Island | William Hubbard |
| 1730 | 985 | Narraganset + Niantic | John Callender |
| 1833 | 199 | Charlestown | Commissioner on the Narragansett Tribe of Indians |
| 1858 | 132 | Charlestown | Commissioner on the Narragansett Tribe of Indians |
| 1870 | about 100 | Charlestown | unknown |
| 1880 | 302 | southern Rhode Island | Detribalization Commission |
| 1972 | 424 | Tribal members | Theodore W. Taylor |
| 2000 | 2.137 | Tribal members | US Census |
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Narraganset
- ^ Historical Perspective of the Narragansett Indian Tribe ( Memento of February 2, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Narragansett, Page: 190f.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Narragansett, Map Page: 191f.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Narragansett, Page: 191.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period, page: 163.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period, page: 164.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Narragansett, Page: 191f.
- ↑ a b c d e f http://www.dickshovel.com/Narra.html Narragansett History
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15. Northeast, Chapter: Narragansett, page: 196.
- ^ RootsWeb.com
- ↑ Narraganset Population
literature
- Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15. Northeast . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978 ISBN 0-16-004575-4
- Alvin M. Josephy jr .: 500 Nations , Frederking & Thaler GmbH, Munich 1996 ISBN 3-89405-356-9
- Alvin M. Josephy jr .: The world of the Indians , Frederking & Thaler GmbH, Munich 1994 ISBN 3-89405-331-3
- Siegfried Augustin : The history of the Indians , Nymphenburger, Munich 1995
Web links
- Narraganset History
- Narragansett Language information
- Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett page from Ethnologue website
- Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum
- Nuweetooun School
