Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (estimated 1644 – 1666) was the first Native American to graduate from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Life

Cheeshahteaumuck, the son of a Nobnocket ( West Chop) sachem, was born into the

Wampanoag The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...

tribe on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

and he received a formal education. He and his classmate Joel Hiacoomes were taught on the Vineyard by Peter Folger, the maternal grandfather to Benjamin Franklin. The two went on to attend Elijah Corlet's grammar school in Cambridge in around 1657.

Harvard and death

Cheeshahteaumuck and Hiacoomes both entered Harvard's Indian College in 1661. Hiacoomes died in a shipwreck a few months prior to graduation while returning to Harvard from Martha's Vineyard. Cheeshahteaumuck became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard in 1665. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

less than a year after graduation."Remembering Native Sons"
, '' Harvard University Gazette'', May 1, 1997."The Ancient Proprietors: Wampanoags"
, Part I: Nantucket's First Peoples of Color, ''The Other Islanders'', Frances Ruley Karttunen, Nantucket, Massachusetts: Nantucket Historical Association, 2002. Accessed on line October 22, 2007. This online book has also been issued in a print edition (New Bedford, Massachusetts: Spinner Publications, Inc., 2005, .) One document remains from Cheeshahteaumuck's time at Harvard which he purportedly wrote, written entirely in Latin. This short letter, addressed to "most honored benefactors," contains references to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Greco-Roman philosophers, and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. The letter was meant to thank donors and encourage them to continue their financial support. Some consider this to be the earliest extant writing by a Native American on the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n continent. In 1674,

Daniel Gookin Danyell "Daniel" Gookin (1612 – 19 March 1687) was a Munster colonist, settler of Virginia and Massachusetts, and a writer on the subject of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indians. Early life He was born, perhaps in County Cork, ...

, writing about American Indians in

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, described Cheeshahteaumuck's death and how "Caleb, not long after he took his degree of bachelor of art at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in New England, died of a consumption at Charlestown, where he was placed by Thomas Danforth, who had inspection over him, under the care of a physician in order to his health; where he wanted not for the best means the country could afford, both of food and physic; but God denied the blessing, and put a period to his days." The Harvard Foundation unveiled a portrait of Cheeshahteaumuck on December 16, 2010, in the Annenberg Hall, painted by Stephen E. Coit.

Legacy

Cheeshahteaumuck is the title character in Geraldine Brooks' book of historical fiction ''Caleb's Crossing''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeshahteaumuck, Caleb Year of birth missing Year of death missing Harvard University alumni Wampanoag people Native American history of Massachusetts People from Martha's Vineyard People from Dukes County, Massachusetts Aquinnah, Massachusetts 1660s deaths Place of birth missing Native American people from Massachusetts 17th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Massachusetts 17th-century writers in Latin American writers in Latin