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The Pocumtuc (also Pocomtuck or Deerfield Indians) were a Native American tribe historically inhabiting western areas of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
.


Settlements

Their territory was concentrated around the confluence of the Deerfield and
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
s in today's Franklin County. Their homelands also included much of current-day Hampden and
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
Counties, plus areas now in northern Connecticut and southern
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
. Their principal village, also known as Pocumtuck, was in the vicinity of the present day village of Deerfield.


Language

Their language, now extinct, was an R-dialect of the Algonquian language family, most likely related to the
Wappinger The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutche ...
and nearby
Mahican The Mohican ( or , alternate spelling: Mahican) are an Eastern Algonquian Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American Native Americans in the United States, tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Al ...
tribes of the
Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yon ...
.Swanton, John R. ''The Indian Tribes of North America'', pp. 23-24. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145. Washington DC.: Government Printing Office, 1952.


Subsistence

Little is known about the Pocumtuc people, but they likely led lifestyles similar to neighboring tribes in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces o ...
. They would have engaged in semi-sedentary agriculture of
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn ( North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. T ...
,
beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
, and squash. They also hunted game and fished in the Connecticut River, which served as a major inland transportation route.


History

The Pocumtuck were decimated by
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...
s after European contact. They had no immunity to the new disease and suffered high fatalities. In addition, they lost tribal members due to taking part in wars among the Dutch, English, French, and their respective Native American allies.Thomas, Peter A. ''In the Maelstrom of Change: the Indian Trade and Cultural Process in the Middle Connecticut River Valley: 1635–1665.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, 1979 The Pocumtuck were originally allied with the
Tunxis The Tunxis were a group of Quiripi speaking Connecticut Native Americans that is known to history mainly through their interactions with English settlers in New England. Broadly speaking, their location makes them one of the Eastern Algonquia ...
and Narragansett against Chief
Uncas Uncas () was a ''sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes. Early life and family Uncas was born n ...
of the
Mohegan The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the east ...
and the
Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or t ...
. All these tribes united against the English colonists with the
Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts ...
Confederacy in
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England colon ...
. At the close of the war, many Pocumtuck, Nipmuc, and other tribes fled to Schaghticoke, a village on the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New ...
. They remained there until the outbreak of the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...
in 1754, when most joined and merged into the
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pr ...
tribes at
Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec Saint-François-du-Lac () is a community in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 1,957. It is located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Saint-François r ...
or moved further west. Small bands remained in Massachusetts as late as the 19th century, but most fled north or lost their tribal identity through intermarriage with other tribes and settlers. Many of the present-day
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pr ...
of
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the n ...
,
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
, and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
are of part-Pocumtuck ancestry. Among the members of the Pocumtuck tribe was Chief Wawanotewat (1670–ca. 1750), better known as
Gray Lock Gray Lock (or Greylock, born Wawanotewat, Wawanolet, or Wawanolewat), was a Western Abenaki warrior chieftain of Woronoco/Pocumtuck ancestry who came to lead the Missisquoi Abenaki band, and whose direct descendants have led the Missisquoi Aben ...
. A famous warrior, he led Abenaki bands into Massachusetts after most of his followers had left the state.
Mount Greylock Mount Greylock is a mountain located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and is the highest point in the state. Its summit is in the western part of the town of Adams (near its border with Williamstown) in Berkshire County. Geologically ...
in the
Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...
is named after him.


Villages associated with the Pocumtuck

* Agawam - present-day Metro Center
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. The adjacent, present-day city of
Agawam, Massachusetts Agawam is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,692 at the 2020 census. Agawam sits on the western side of the Connecticut River, directly across from Springfield, Massachusetts. It is considered part of the ...
is named after this village (sometimes associated with the
Nipmuc The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. Their historic territory Nippenet, "the freshwater pond place," is in central Massachusetts and nearby pa ...
) * Mayawaug - present-day West Suffield, Connecticut * Nameroke - present-day
Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Long ...
* Nonotuck - present-day
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florenc ...
/
Easthampton, Massachusetts Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is on the southeastern edge of the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 c ...
* Norwottuck - present-day
Hadley, Massachusetts Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around the Hampshire and Mountain Farms Ma ...
* Pachasock - present-day
Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population wa ...
/
West Springfield, Massachusetts West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,835 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is also known as "West Si ...
* Peskeompscut - present-day
Turners Falls, Massachusetts Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,512 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropo ...
* Pocumtuck - present-day
Deerfield, Massachusetts Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachuse ...
* Scitico - present-day
Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Long ...
(farther east) * Squakeag - present-day
Northfield, Massachusetts Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 2,866 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connecticut R ...
(primary town of the
Sokoki The Missiquoi (or the Missisquoi or the Sokoki) were a historic band of Abenaki Indigenous peoples from present-day southern Quebec and formerly northern Vermont. This Algonquian-speaking group lived along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain at ...
) * Woronoco or Waranoak - present-day
Russell, Massachusetts Russell is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,643 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Russell is in western Hampden County, bordered ...
or colonial
Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population wa ...


In popular culture

The Pocumtucks are mentioned in the H. P. Lovecraft novella ''
The Dunwich Horror "The Dunwich Horror" is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of ''Weird Tales'' (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts ...
'' as the presumed builders of the
stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The b ...
s in the hills around
Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was th ...
. The Dunwich Horror
/ref>


See also

*
Native American tribes in Massachusetts Native American tribes in Massachusetts are the Native American tribes and their reservations that existed historically and those that still exist today in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Narragansett term for this region is Nin ...


References


External links


Pocomtuc History
{{authority control Algonquian ethnonyms Algonquian peoples Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands Extinct languages of North America Extinct Native American tribes Native American tribes in Connecticut Native American tribes in Massachusetts Native American history of Massachusetts