Wawyachtonoc (also rendered Wyachtonok, Wawayachtonoc, and Wyaghtonok) were an Algonquian-speaking Native American people indigenous to east central New York and northwest

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. ...

. In 1687, the Wyachtonok, originally subgroup of

Paugussett The Golden Hill Paugussett is a State recognized tribes, state-recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe in Connecticut. Granted reservations in a number of towns in the 17th century, their land base was whittled away ...

, joined the Mohican Confederacy. The majority of the Wawyachtonoc were converted to Christianity, beginning in 1740, by Moravian missionaries. During this period Wawyachtonoc populations became concentrated at the Moravian missions at Shekomeko and Schaghticoke. In the 1830s the some Wawyachtonoc were displaced to

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. These Wawyachtonoc descendants are now part of the Stockbridge–Munsee Community and Brothertown Indians of

, while those that remained in Connecticut are part of the

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN) is a state-recognized tribe in Connecticut. STN is not a federally recognized American Indian tribe. STN is not to be confused with the splinter group Schaghticoke Indian Tribe (SIT), another state-recognized ...

, a state-recognized tribe.

Name

The

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Wawyachtonoc'' is often translated as "eddy people" or "people of the curved channel."

Territory

The traditional territory of the Wawyachtonoc extended throughout what is now Columbia and Duchess County New York, and Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Villages

* Weantinock, the tribe's primary village, situated along the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United ...

near present New Milford * Wechquadnach, meaning "wrapped around by the mountain," on the Eastern side of Indian Lake, Litchfield County * Shekomeko, meaning "great village," 2 miles south of present Pine Plains, NY * Pachgatgoch (present day Schaghticoke Indian Reservation - Kent, CT) "Where the river forks" at the mouth of the Housatonic R. and Ten Mile R. * Weataug, meaning "

wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

place," likely on the Housatonic River between Washining Lake and Canaan, CT, near present

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

* Bantam * Pomperaug

References

{{authority control Native American history of Connecticut Native American tribes in Connecticut History of Fairfield County, Connecticut