Wequash
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Wequash Cooke (also known as: Wequash Cook or Weekwash or Weekwosh or Wequashcuk) (died 1642) was allegedly one of the earliest Native American converts to
Protestant Christianity Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sour ...
, and as a sagamore he played an important role in the 1637
Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot nation and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Na ...
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 ...
.


Early life

Wequash lived in Pasquishunk near the mouth of the
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...
and was the eldest son of Wepitanock, the sachem of the
Niantic people The Niantic ( ; Nehântick or Nehantucket) are a tribe of Algonquian-speaking American Indians who lived in the area of Connecticut and Rhode Island during the early colonial period. The tribe's name ''Nehântick'' means "of long-necked waters" ...
and many historians presume that Wequash's mother was a
Pequot The Pequot ( ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut includin ...
because she was described as a "stranger" and not Niantic. Wequash was also a nephew of Chief
Ninigret Ninigret (also known as Juanemo according to Roger Williams) (c. 1610 This source confirms 1662 as the date of his land sales.-1677 This source suggests a date of 1667 for his land sales and a 1647 war against the Mohegans.) was a sachem of the ea ...
. In 1637 Wequash and
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 ...
united with the colonists of New England under Captain John Mason to fight the Pequots and witnessed the destruction of the tribe's fort by Connecticut militia and Indian allies during the
Mystic massacre The Mystic massacrealso known as the Pequot massacre and the Battle of Mystic Forttook place on May 26, 1637 during the Pequot War, when a force from the Connecticut Colony under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies se ...
in
Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in 1784. Mystic Seaport, located in ...
. After the War, Wequash married many of the powerful Pequot women in an attempt to solidify his power. Wequash later deeded the land for the settlement of
Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Connecticut, Madison, Branford, Connecticut, Branford, North Branford, Connecticut, North Branford and Durham, Connecticut, Durham, and is situated on Inter ...
, to Henry Whitfield in 1641 in a deed in which "Weeksosh of Pasquishunk" deeded land "given him by Sachem Squaw of Quillipiag."


Conversion and death

After the Pequot War, as local historians observed, that Wequash was filled with "respect for English power" and "it awakened a spirit of inquiry in regard to the Englishmen's God, which led him finally to a hearty and influential reception of Christianity". After this experience, Wequash returned to local Native Americans as a
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
preaching about Christ for which he was persecuted by them. Wequash's tombstone in
Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Conn ...
, refers to him as New England's first Indian convert. Many Puritans in Massachusetts such as Governor
John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...
wrote about Wequash's conversion as the first Native American conversion to Christianity, and '' New England's First Fruits'' was published in 1643 describing Wequash's experience. This was later used to justify the Massachusetts Bay Colony's existence as a mission in evangelizing to Native Americans. In ''
A Key Into the Language of America ''A Key into the Language of America'' or ''An help to the Language of the Natives in that part of America called New England'' is a book written by Roger Williams in 1643 describing the Native American languages in New England in the 17th centu ...
''
Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...
spoke more skeptically of Wequash's conversion and described how on his deathbed Wequash thanked Williams for explaining Christianity to him at his home in Providence, but Williams still had concerns about whether Wequash had truly been converted. Wequash died in 1642 in the home of Colonel George Fenwick, co-founder of the
Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in what is today Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential politic ...
, and there were suspicions that Wequash had been poisoned for his relationship with the English. He was "buried in the Christian Indian burying ground on the west side of the bay near the mount of the Niantic river." Prior to his death Wequash requested that his son Wequash be raised by the English settlers, and his son, Wenamoag, went to live with Colonel George Fenwick in the Saybrook Fort, but it is unknown what happened to him after Fenwick's wife died and Fenwick returned to England in 1645. Wequash's younger brother, Harman Garrett (Cashawashett), took the name "Wequash Cooke II" for a period after Wequash's death and attempted to assume his leadership role.Katherine Dimancescu, ''Denizens: A Narrative of Captain George Denison and His New England ...'' (2018), p. 124 https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0989616983


References

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See also

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Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot nation and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Na ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Wequash 17th-century births 1642 deaths 17th-century Native American leaders Niantic people Pequot War Native American people from Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut