Joel Hiacoomes (1665) was one of the first Native American students at

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

Joel Hiacoomes, son of

Hiacoomes Hiacoomes (~1610s – 1690) was a Wampanoag American Indian from the island of Martha's Vineyard, (Wampanoag: ), who in 1643 became the first member of his society to convert to Christianity under the tutelage of the missionary Thomas Mayhew Jr ...

, 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 ...

interpreter for missionary

Thomas Mayhew Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder (April 1, 1593 – March 25, 1682) established the first European settlement on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. He is one of the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published i ...

, was born into the

Wampanoag Tribe The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island.Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Isl ...

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 ...

, traditionally Noepe. Joel and his classmate

Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (estimated 1644 – 1666) was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University. Life Cheeshahteaumuck, the son of a Nobnocket ( West Chop) sachem, was born into the Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard and he ...

, also a Wampanoag, were taught on the Vineyard by

Peter Folger Peter Folger (December 26, 1905 – August 27, 1980) was an American coffee heir, socialite, and member of the prominent United States Folger family. He was also the longtime chairman of the board and president of the Folgers Coffee Company. He ...

, the maternal grandfather to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. The two went on to attend Elijah Corlett's grammar school in Cambridge in around 1657. In 1661 they both entered Harvard's

Indian College The Indian College (1640s-1693) was an institution of higher education established in the 1640s with the mission of training Native American students at Harvard College, in the town of Cambridge, in colonial Massachusetts. The Indian College' ...

. Joel Hiacoomes and Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck were both set to graduate from Harvard in 1665; however, only Caleb received his degree.

Harvard and death

Joel Hiacoomes was set to be named Harvard

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

, but died before graduation in a shipwreck, after robbers pounced on the shipwreck survivors. The boat Joel sailed on was found wrecked on the shores of Nantucket Island.

Legacy

In the time that Joel attended Harvard, two weeks of oral exams in Greek and Latin were a requirement for graduation, in addition to attending the commencement ceremony. Therefore, due to his untimely death, Joel never received his Harvard diploma. Harvard rectified this in 2011 when, almost 350 years after Joel Hiacoomes was scheduled to graduate
Harvard University presented members of the Wampanoag community with a special posthumous degree for him
alongside Tiffany Smalley, the first Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard College since

Caleb Caleb ( ; , Tiberian vocalization: , Modern Israeli Hebrew: ) is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. Following the Israelite conquest of Ca ...

. In response to the posthumous ceremony in 2011, Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the chairwoman of the

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) (Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project – "Fun with words" https://www.wlrp.org/fun-with-words) is a federally recognized tribe of Wampanoag people based in the town of Aquinnah on the southwest ti ...

, said:

"We are delighted that this posthumous degree is being awarded to our own Joel Iacoomes since he was from our island community, it means a great deal to us to see his extraordinary achievement recognized alongside his fellow tribe member,
Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (estimated 1644 – 1666) was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University. Life Cheeshahteaumuck, the son of a Nobnocket ( West Chop) sachem, was born into the Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard and he ...
, the first Indian to graduate from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
."

While at Harvard, Joel used

John Amos Comenius John Amos Comenius (; ; ; ; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unit ...

's '' Janua Linguarum Reserata'' as a textbook. The

Harvard College Library Harvard Library is the network of libraries and services at Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic librar ...

copy of the first edition of the ''Janua Linguarum'' has Joel's signature twice as a borrower. 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 Joel and

as "hopeful young men, especially Joel, being so ripe in learning, that he should, within a few months, have taken his first degree of bachelor of art in the college." Gookin, further elaborating, explained how Joel "was a good scholar and a pious man, as I judge. I knew him well; for he lived and was taught in the same town where I dwell. I observed him for several years, after he was grown to years of discretion, to be not only a diligent student, but an attentive hearer of God’s word; diligently writing the sermons, and frequenting lectures; grave and sober in his conversation." Hiacoomes and Cheeshahteaumuck are portrayed in Geraldine Brooks' book of historical fiction ''Caleb's Crossing''. Alternative spellings of Joel's last name are: Jacoomis, Iacoomes, Iacoombs, J:acoomis, and Jacoomis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiacoomes, Joel Harvard University alumni Wampanoag people People of the Plymouth Colony Martha's Vineyard People from Martha's Vineyard People from Aquinnah, Massachusetts People from Dukes County, Massachusetts Aquinnah, Massachusetts Native American people from Massachusetts 1640s births 1665 deaths Year of birth uncertain