Ponkapoag , also Punkapaug, Punkapoag, Ponkhapoag or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "

praying town Praying towns were settlements established by English colonial governments in New England from 1646 to 1675 in an effort to convert local Native Americans to Christianity. The Native people who moved into the towns were known as Praying Indi ...

" settled in the late 17th century western Blue Hills area of eastern

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 ...

by persons who had accepted Christianity. It was established in 1657, during the

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

seaboard of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by settlers from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. This was the name given to the winter residence (and subsequently to the tribe) of the group of

Massachusett The Massachusett are 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 Hills ...

who lived at the mouth of the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

near Dorchester in the summer, in what colonists called Neponset Mill. Ponkapoag is now contained almost entirely by the town of

Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about southwest of Downtown Boston. History The area that is present ...

. The name is derived from a nearby pond south of

Great Blue Hill Great Blue Hill is a hill of 635 feet (194 m) located within the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Randolph and Canton, Massachusetts, about south of downtown Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County and the Greater Boston area. ...

; Ponkapoag means "shallow pond" or "a spring that bubbles from red soil".

History

Ponkapoag Plantation was established in 1657 as a town parcel formed from Dorchester,

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. It was the second

Christianized Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

native settlement, or "Praying Town" in Massachusetts, after Natick was established in 1651. In 1654 members of the Nemasket Tribe, located in the village of Cohannet in current day Bristol County, were among the first Native Americans relocated to Ponkapoag by missionaries. From 1657 to his death around 1670, Quashaamit (William) served as a teaching minister in Ponkapoag, and also deeded large parcels of land in modern day Mendon, Milford, Braintree (Quincy), and North Smithfield.

Legacy

The

Improved Order of Red Men The Improved Order of Red Men is a List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations, fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. It claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty. Their rituals and ...

, a European-American

fraternal order A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiation ritual and traits alluding to religious, chivalric or pseudo-chivalric orders, guilds, or secret societies. Fraternal orders typically have secular p ...

, had a "Ponkapaug tribe" active in

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, into the early 20th century. Several

unrecognized tribes These organizations, located within the United States, self-identify as Native American tribes, heritage groups, or descendant communities, but they are not federally recognized or state-recognized as Native American tribes. The U.S. Governmental ...

claim descent from the Ponkaoag, including the Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag in Stoughton, the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag in Bridgewater and Holliston, and the Ponkapoag Tribal Council in Brockton.

References

Native American history of Massachusetts Canton, Massachusetts {{NorthAm-native-stub

History

Legacy

See also

References