Corbitant was a

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 ...

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...

under

Massasoit Massasoit Sachem ( ) or Ousamequin (1661)"Native People" (page), "Massasoit (Ousamequin) Sachem" (section),''MayflowerFamilies.com'', web pag was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. ''Massasoit'' means ''Great Sachem''. Although ...

. Corbitant was the sachem of the Pocasset tribe in present-day

North Tiverton, Rhode Island North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, c. 1618–1630. He lived in Mattapuyst or Mattapoiset, located in the southern part of today's

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In the summer of 1621, he was involved in a minor altercation with the

Plymouth colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...

involving the Patuxet refugee Tisquantum ("Squanto") at present-day

Middleborough Middleborough is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,405 as of 2023. The census-designated place of Middleborough Center corresponds to the main village and commercial center of the town. It is the seco ...

, Massachusetts. Corbitant had menaced both Tisquantum and his companion Hobomok for their close ties with the white settlers. Fearing for their lives, Hobomok was able to escape and run back to Plymouth, where he rallied the pilgrims under Miles Standish. Standish led ten armed men of Plymouth to rescue Tisquantum from Corbitant. They attacked the Wampanoag village at Nemasket, but by that time Corbitant had released Squanto and withdrawn from the area. Corbitant was nominally obedient to the Great Sachem Massasoit of the

Pokanoket The Pokanoket (also spelled PakanokickKathleen J. Bragdon, ''Native People of Southern New England, 1500–1650'', page 21) are a group of Wampanoag people and the village governed by Massasoit (c. 1581–1661), chief sachem of the Wampanoag pe ...

. Although described as a "determined foe of the English", nonetheless, "with other hostile chiefs he signed a treaty of peace with the English in 1621." Tribes of the Wampanoag federation possessed hunting grounds at

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, Attleboro, Middleborough, Hanson,

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 ...

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, Swansea, Mattapoisett, Wareham, and Fall River, in Massachusetts, as well as Tiverton,

Aquidneck Island Aquidneck Island ( ), officially known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as ...

(Newport),

Conanicut Island Conanicut Island ( ) is an island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. The second-largest in the Bay, it is connected on the east to Newport, Rhode Island, Newport on Aquidneck Island by the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, ...

, Little Compton,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, Warren and the lands west to the

Providence River The Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles (13 km). There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown to protect ...

. Around the year 1622, the Narragansett Federation under

Canonicus Canonicus (c. 1565 – June 4, 1647) was a chief of the Narragansett people. He was wary of the colonial settlers, but he ultimately befriended Roger Williams and other settlers. Biography Canonicus was born around 1565,Benjamin J. Lossing ...

seized Conanicut Island of present-day Jamestown from Massasoit.

References

17th-century Native American leaders Wampanoag people People from colonial Massachusetts Native American history of Massachusetts Native American people from Massachusetts {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub