Mahomet Weyonomon (11 August 1736) was a

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

tribal chieftain (or ''

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 ...

'') of the

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Indigenous people originally based in what is now southeastern Connecticut in the United States. They are part of the Eastern Algonquian linguistic and cultural family and historically shared close ties with the neighboring ...

tribe from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, who travelled to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1735 to petition King George II for better treatment of his people.

Life

Mahomet was the great-grandson of

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 ...

, an important sachem of the Mohegan tribe. In 1735, Captain John Mason, a descendant of the

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

who had been asked by Uncas to act as guardians and trustees over the Mohegan land, engineered Mahomet's election to the position of Sachem in place of his great Uncle, Ben Uncas, who was more favoured by the

Colony of Connecticut The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritan congregation of settlers ...

. By 1735, the Mohegan people had lost much of their planting and hunting lands to white settlers in New England. Accompanied by two settlers who supported his cause, John and Samuel Mason, and another Mohegan, AughQuant, Weyonomon travelled to England, where the trio rented accommodation at

St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Aldermanbury is a former parish church in the City of London first mentioned in the 12th century and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt like many other City of London churches by Christopher Wren, it was again gutte ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

while they prepared their petition to the King. The King referred the matter to the

Lords Commissioners The Lords Commissioners are Privy Council of the United Kingdom, privy counsellors appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom to exercise, on his or her behalf, certain functions relating to Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament whic ...

on Foreign Trade and Plantations; however, both John Mason and Weyonomon succumbed to

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 (W ...

in 1736 before their case could be heard by the commission. As a foreigner, he was not permitted to be buried in the

, and he was interred in an

unmarked grave An unmarked grave is one that lacks a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating that a body is buried there. It may also include burials that previously had identification but which are no longer identifiable due to weather damage, neglect, dist ...

outside St Mary Overie, now

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...

. On 22 November 2006,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

dedicated a memorial (a sculpture by British artist

Peter Randall-Page Peter Randall-Page RA (born 1954) is a British artist and sculptor, known for his stone sculpture work, inspired by geometric patterns from nature. In his words "geometry is the theme on which nature plays his infinite variations, fundamental m ...

) to Mahomet Weyonomon at the cathedral, accompanied by a traditional funeral ceremony conducted by members of the Mohegan tribe.

References

* Caulkins, Frances Manwaring. ''History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866''. Self-published, 1866. 269. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weyonomon, Mahomet Native American leaders Native American activists Deaths from smallpox in England 1736 deaths Mohegan people Year of birth unknown Native American people from Connecticut Year of birth uncertain