Nipmuc


The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language, probably the Loup language. Their historic territory Nippenet, meaning 'the freshwater pond place', is in central Massachusetts and nearby parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The Nipmuc Tribe had contact with traders and fishermen from Europe prior to the colonization of the Americas. The first recorded contact with Europeans was in 1630, when John Acquittamaug took maize to sell to the starving colonists of Boston, Massachusetts. After the colonists encroached on their land, negotiated fraudulent land sales and introduced legislation designed to encourage further European settlement, many Nipmucs joined Metacomet's war, known as King Philip's War, in 1675, though they were unable to defeat the colonists. Many Nipmuc were held captive on Deer Island in Boston Harbor and died of disease and malnutrition, while others were executed or sold into slavery in the West Indies.
Christian missionary John Eliot arrived in Boston in 1631. After learning the Massachusett language, which was widely understood throughout New England, he converted numerous Native Americans to Christianity, and with the help of Wawaus, also known as James the Printer, published a Bible translated in Massachusett and a Massachusett grammar. Backed by the colonial government, he established several "Indian plantations" or praying towns, where Native Americans were induced to settle and be instructed in European customs and converted to Christianity.
The state of Massachusetts has a government-to-government relationship with the Hassanamisco Nipmuc and the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuc Indians.

Name

The tribe is first mentioned in a 1631 letter by Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley as the Nipnet, 'people of the freshwater pond', due to their inland location. This derives from Nippenet and includes variants such as Neipnett, Neepnet, Nepmet, Nibenet, Nopnat and Nipneet. In 1637, Roger Williams recorded the tribe as the Neepmuck, which derives from Nipamaug, 'people of the freshwater fishing place,' and also appears spelled as Neetmock, Notmook, Nippimook, Nipmaug, Nipmoog, ''Neepemut, Nepmet, Nepmock, Neepmuk, Nepmug, as well as modern Nipmuc. Colonists and the Native Americans themselves used this term extensively after the growth of the praying towns. The French referred to most New England Native Americans as Loup, meaning 'Wolf '. But Nipmuc refugees who had fled to French Colonial Canada and settled among the Abenaki referred to themselves as ȣmiskanȣakȣiak'', meaning the 'beaver tail-hill people'.

Language

The Nipmuc most likely spoke Loup A, a Southern New England Algonquian language. The language is undergoing revival within the communities. There are several second-language speakers.

Tribal divisions

, Superintendent to the Native Americans and assistant of Eliot, was careful to distinguish the Nipmuc, Wabquasset, Quaboag, and Nashaway tribes. The situation was fluid since these Native groups were decentralized, and individuals unhappy with their chiefs freely joined other groups. In addition, shifting alliances were made based on kinship, military, and tributary relationships with other tribes.
The formation of the praying towns dissolved some tribal divisions, as members of different tribes settled together. Four groups that are associated with the Nipmuc peoples survive today.
  • Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck, Dudley Indians
  • Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, Grafton Indians
  • Natick Massachusett, Natick Nipmuc
  • Connecticut Nipmuc

    Legal status

State recognition

Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued Executive Order #126 in 1976, which proclaimed that 'State agencies shall deal directly with... Hassanamisco Nipmuc... on matters affecting the Nipmuc Tribe', as well as calling for the creation of a state 'Commission on Indian Affairs.' The all-Indian Commission was established; it conferred state support for education, health care, cultural continuity, and protection of remaining lands for the descendants of the Wampanoag, Nipmuc and Massachusett tribes. The state also calls for the examination of all human remains discovered in the course of construction and other projects, requiring notification of the Commission, who after the investigation by the State Archaeologist with the historic tribe and commended tribal efforts to preserve their culture and traditions. The state also symbolically repealed the General Court Act of 1675 that banned Native Americans from the City of Boston during King Philip's War. The tribe also works closely with the state to undergo various archaeological excavations and preservation campaigns. The tribe, in conjunction with the National Congress of American Indians were against the construction of the sewage treatment plant on Deer Island in Boston Harbor where many graves were desecrated by its construction, and annually hold a remembrance service for members of the tribe lost over the winter during their internment during King Philip's War and protest against the destruction of Indian gravesites.

Federal recognition efforts

On April 22, 1980, Zara Cisco Brough, a landowner of Hassanamessit, submitted a letter of intention to petition for federal recognition as a Native American tribe.
On July 20, 1984, the BIA received the petition letter from the 'Nipmuc Tribal Council Federal Recognition Committee', co-signed by Zara Cisco Brough and her successor, Walter A. Vickers, of the Hassanamisco, and Edwin 'Wise Owl' W. Morse Sr. of the Chaubunagungamaug. In January 2001, a preliminary finding was made by the BIA in favor of the Nipmuc Nation of Sutton, Massachusetts, which had most of its membership in Massachusetts, while a negative preliminary finding was issued for the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Band of Dudley, Massachusetts, which had its membership about evenly split between Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 2004, the BIA notified the Nipmuc Nation that they had been rejected for federal recognition.

Colonial-era history

17th century

sailors, fishermen, and adventurers began visiting New England during the early modern period. The first permanent settlements in the region did not begin until after the settling of Plymouth Colony in 1620. These early seafarers introduced several infectious diseases to which the Native Americans had no prior exposure, resulting in epidemics with mortality rates as high as 90 percent. Smallpox killed many of the Native Americans in 1617–1619, 1633, 1648–1649, and 1666. Similarly influenza, typhus, and measles also afflicted the Native Americans throughout the period. In 2010 researchers developed a new hypothesis on epidemics between 1616 and 1619 as being from leptospirosis complicated by Weil syndrome.
As shown by the writings of Increase Mather, the colonists attributed the decimation of the Native Americans to God's providence in clearing the new lands for settlement, but they were accustomed to interpreting their lives in such religious terms. At the time of contact, the Nipmuc were a fairly large grouping, subject to more powerful neighbors who provided protection, especially against the Pequot, Mohawk and Abenaki tribes that raided the area.
The colonists initially depended on the Native Americans for survival in the New World, and the Native Americans rapidly began to trade their foodstuffs, furs and wampum for the copper kettles, arms and metal tools of the colonists. Puritan settlers arrived in large numbers from 1620 to 1640, the 'Great Migration' that increased their need to acquire more land. Since the colonists had conflicting colonial and royal grants, the settlers depended on having Indian names on land deeds to mark legitimacy. This process had serious flaws, as John Wompas deeded off many lands to the colonists to curry favor, many of which were not even his.

Indian plantations

The royal charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1629 called for the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity. The colonists did not begin this work in earnest until after the Pequot War proved their military superiority, and they gained official backing in 1644.
Although many answered the call, the Rev. John Eliot, who had learned the Massachusett from tribe interpreters, compiled an Indian Bible and a grammar of the language. It was well understood from Cape Ann to Connecticut. In addition, colonial authorities supported settlement of the Native Americans on 'Indian plantations' or Praying towns. There they instructed the Native Americans in European farming methods, culture, and language, administered by Indian preachers and councilors who were often descended from the elite Native families. The Native Americans melded Indigenous and European culture, but were mistrusted by both the colonists and their non-converted brethren. The colonists and later state governments gradually sold off the plantations. By the end of the 19th century, only the Cisco homestead in Grafton was still owned by direct descendants of Nipmuc landholders.
Following is a list of Indian Plantations associated with the Nipmuc:
Chaubunagungamaug, Chabanakongkomuk, Chaubunakongkomun, or Chaubunakongamaug
Hassanamesit, Hassannamessit, Hassanameset, or Hassanemasset
Magunkaquog, Makunkokoag, Magunkahquog, Magunkook, Maggukaquog or Mawonkkomuk
Manchaug, Manchauge, Mauchage, Mauchaug, or Mônuhchogok
  • 'Place of departure,' 'place of marvelling,' 'island of rushes,' or 'island where reeds grow.'
  • Sutton, Massachusetts.
Manexit, Maanexit, Mayanexit
  • 'Where the road lies,' 'where we gather,' 'near the path,' or 'place of meekness.'
  • Thompson, Connecticut.
Nashoba
Natick
Okommakamesitt, Agoganquameset, Ockoocangansett, Ogkoonhquonkames, Ognonikongquamesit, or Okkomkonimset
Packachoag, Packachoog, Packachaug, Pakachog, or Packachooge
Quabaug, Quaboag, Squaboag
Quinnetusset, Quanatusset, Quantiske, Quantisset, or Quatiske, Quattissick
  • 'Long brook' or 'little long river.'
  • Thompson, Connecticut.
Wabaquasset, Wabaquassit, Wabaquassuck, Wabasquassuck, Wabquisset or Wahbuquoshish
Wacuntuc, Wacantuck, Wacumtaug, Wacumtung, Waentg, or Wayunkeke
Washacum or Washakim