Moswetuset Hummock is a Native American site and the original name of the tribe (Mosetuset) in the region named Massachusetts after them. The wooded hummock in

Squantum, Massachusetts Squantum is a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, connected to the mainland by a causeway that crosses over a wetland area of the bay. Often thought of as a peninsula, Squantum proper is technically a barrier island as it is surrounded on all fo ...

, is formally recognized as historic by descendants of the

Ponkapoag Ponkapoag , also Punkapaug, Punkapoag, or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "praying town" settled in the late 17th century western Blue Hills area of eastern Massachusetts by persons who had accepted Christianity. It was established i ...

people. The location was the seat of the ruling Moswetuset Sac'hem (Native American chief)

Chickatawbut Chickatawbut (died 1633; also known as Cicatabut and possibly as Oktabiest before 1622) was the sachem, or leader, of a large group of indigenous people known as the Massachusett tribe in what is now eastern Massachusetts, United States, during th ...

. During the warm season he conducted tribal council here. Members of the Moswetuset (Massachusett) tribe for centuries made the shore of Quincy Bay their seasonal home. Moswetuset Hummock is understood to be the site where

negotiated with

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

commander

Myles Standish Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonizer. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on ...

and Tisquantum, a

Patuxet tribe The Patuxet were a Native American band of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. They lived primarily in and around modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and were among the first Native Americans encountered by European settlers in the region in t ...

guide. In 1617 an epidemic, probably an infectious disease brought by sailors on a visiting European ship, ravaged the native population here and along the New England coastline. Estimates are that 80% of the people died. By the time of King Philip's War, 1675–77, the numbers of the Moswetuset tribe had drastically declined in the town. But, descendants of these original inhabitants still live in the general area today. In his 1747 volume ''A History of New-England'',

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Daniel Neal Daniel Neal Daniel Neal (14 December 16784 April 1743) was an English historian. Biography Born in London, he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, and at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden. In 1704 he became assistant minister, and ...

described Moswetuset Hummock as the origin of the name of the indigenous

Massachusett 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 Hil ...

tribe. The colonists named the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' E ...

after them:

The Sachem or Sagamore who governed the Indians in this part of the country when the English came hither, had his seat on a small hill, or hummock, containing perhaps an acre and a half, about two leagues to the southward of Boston, which hill or hummock lies in the shape of an Indian's arrowhead, which arrow-heads are called in their language MOS, or MONS, with O nasal, and hill in their language is WETUSET hence, this great sachem's seat was called Moswetuset, which signifies a hill in the shape of an arrow's head, and his subjects, the Moswetuset Indians, from whence with a small variation of the word, the Province received the name MASSACHUSETTS.

Moswetuset translates to 'shaped like an

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

'. In 1970 Moswetuset Hummock was formally recognized and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in Massachusetts. The historic site is also recognized by the Native American descendants known as the Ponkapoag people. Moswetuset Hummock is located on East Squantum Street, the northern end of

Wollaston Beach Wollaston Beach is the largest public beach in the Boston harbor. The beach is located parallel to Quincy Shore Drive in North Quincy, Massachusetts, which was constructed to provide access to the bay beach for Greater Boston. Wollaston beach exp ...

Quincy Bay Quincy Bay is the largest of the three small bays of southern Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming much of the shoreline of the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Locally in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy it is known as Wollaston ...

. A hummock is a geological term: by definition they are small and less than fifty feet in height. Earth hummocks, in contrast to ice hummocks, are also known as a small rounded knoll, mound of land, or a hillock. Hummocks are believed to be relict features that were formed under colder conditions when permafrost was likely present in the ground. Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). "hummock", ''Dictionary of Geological Terms,'' 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241.

Gallery

File:Mos tombtone.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock Commemorative Marker File:Moswetuset.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock Shape File:Mos Entrance.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock Bridge File:Mos morning1.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock Rock File:Mos Morning2.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock East File:Mos Bird.jpg, Moswetuset Hummock North File:Ponkapoag Tribe.jpg, Ponkapoag Tribe

References

External links

The Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag

Discover Quincy: Moswetuset

Massachusetts State Park/ Quincy Shore Reservation details

Department of Conservation and Recreation
National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy, Massachusetts Geography of Norfolk County, Massachusetts Protected areas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Quincy, Massachusetts Native American history of Massachusetts {{NorfolkCountyMA-NRHP-stub

Gallery

See also

References

External links