Warlike North American tribe of the Algonquian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area. They formerly occupied the coast region of northeastern Connecticut from the Rhode Island border westward.

Once identified with the Mohegan people, they were virtually wiped out by the English in the Pequot War (1637).

In 1990, 536 people in the United States, mainly living on the Pequot Reservation in Connecticut, claimed Pequot ancestry.

"Pequot," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Endecott, John (1588?-1665)

Puritan colonial leader known for his intolerance of religious dissenters. Endecott was born in Devon, England. After obtaining a patent for land in New England with five other people, Endecott led a company of about 60 settlers to Massachusetts, where they joined an already existing community at Naumkeag (now Salem) in 1628. He placed the colony under strict Puritan control and governed it until replaced by John Winthrop, who arrived in Salem as the governor in 1630. Between 1630 and 1664, Endecott was at various times assistant governor, deputy governor, or governor of the colony.

In 1636 he led an expedition against the Pequot which caused the already difficult relationship between the native peoples and the colonists to deteriorate into a state of war. The Pequot War of 1637 eventually resulted in the death or capture of most of the Pequot. During the 1650s, Endecott was responsible for the persecution of many Quakers, whom he either imprisoned, banished, or executed. The United Colonies of New England, a confederation formed for mutual defense and to safeguard religious orthodoxy, elected him president in 1658.

"Endecott, John," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Connecticut, Early Inhabitants

At the beginning of the 17th century, Connecticut was the home of a number of different Native American groups, all of whom spoke related Algonquian languages. Archaeological sites indicate these people lived largely by hunting deer, catching fish and shellfish, and growing corn, beans, and squash. They migrated from forest to coastal areas to take advantage of seasonal resources. The total native population is estimated at about 7,000 people in the early 1600s, after an epidemic that decimated Native Americans throughout New England.

Most powerful among the Connecticut people were the Pequot, who lived in the east and along the shore of Long Island Sound, an area they had conquered from other native groups at the end of the 1500s. Early in the 1600s, a number of Pequots split off from the main group. Led by a chief named Uncas, they called themselves Mohegan, and controlled an area near the Thames River.

Other native groups were the Nipmuc in the northeastern sections of Connecticut; the Niantic along the eastern coast; and the Hammonasset, Quinnipiac, Paugussett, Siwanoy, Podunk, Poquonock, Massacoe, and Tunxi in the central and western sections.

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Most of the Native Americans were generally friendly to the colonists. Some native groups invited the English to settle nearby, hoping for trade and for allies against the aggressive Pequots, who dominated the area. Settlers purchased land from the native people, and though whites often encroached on native territory, disputes were usually settled without violence.

The exception to these friendly relations was friction between the Pequots and settlers, which soon escalated into New England's first major war, the Pequot War of 1637. The causes of the war are unclear, but it involved a series of killings, raids and reprisals on both sides. In May 1637 Connecticut declared war on the Pequots. With the help of both the Mohegan and the Narragansett to the east, the colonists launched a surprise attack on a Pequot village at Mystic River. They set the village on fire and killed Pequot inhabitants as they fled the flames. Hundreds of native villagers died, including many women and children, and most of the remaining Pequots were killed or captured. The few who survived were scattered throughout New England or sold into slavery, and the Pequot all but disappeared.

from: "Connecticut," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Rhode Island, History, Native Americans

Five Algonquian-speaking groups of Native Americans inhabited what is now Rhode Island when the first white explorers arrived in the 16th century and early 17th century. The Narragansett occupied most of the region and were the largest and most powerful group, numbering about 5,000. The Wampanoag lived in the area east of Narragansett Bay. The Nipmuc lived in northern Rhode Island and adjacent areas of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Niantic inhabited southwestern Rhode Island and coastal areas of Connecticut. The Pequot held land along Rhode Island's western border but lived mostly in what is now Connecticut.

Archaeological sites indicate the native inhabitants lived largely by hunting deer, catching fish and shellfish, and growing corn, beans, and squash. They migrated between inland and coastal areas during the year to take advantage of seasonal resources. The principal social unit was the village, led by a village chief called a sachem. Some sachems apparently held power over larger confederacies made up of several villages, and over some of the smaller, weaker native groups.

from: "Rhode Island," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Pequot

Most older histories of Native Americans begin with vague descriptions of where tribes came from before Europeans "discovered" them. This leaves the false impression that Native Americans were always on the move. Actually, migration was rare until settlement displaced the eastern tribes and began a chain reaction of movement to the west. New England Algonquin occupied their homelands for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years before the Europeans arrived in North America. The Pequot-Mohegan, however, were an exception to this. From their own traditions (confirmed by linguistic links and other tribal histories), they originally came from the upper Hudson Valley - probably the shores of Lake Champlain. When they lived there, they may well have been the mysterious Adirondack who dominated the separate tribes of the Iroquois for many years before the formation of the Iroquois League.

Pequot Location

At the time of their first contact with Europeans, southeastern Connecticut from the Nehantic River eastward to the border of Rhode Island. Both the Pequot and the Mohegan were originally a single tribe which migrated to eastern Connecticut from the upper Hudson River Valley in New York, probably the vicinity of Lake Champlain, sometime around 1500.

Population

If the Mohegan are included, the Pequot probably numbered around 6,000 in 1620. After a major smallpox epidemic during the winter of 1633-34 and the separation of the Mohegan, there were still about 3,000 Pequot in 1637. Less than half are believed to have survived the Pequot War of that year. The terms of peace treaty afterwards systematically dismembered them in a manner designed to insure that the Pequot would no longer exist as a tribe. A few Pequot eluded capture and were given refuge by other New England Algonquin, but this was the exception. Most of the captured Pequot warriors were executed, and the English sold the remainder as slaves to the West Indies.Some of the women and children were distributed as "servants" to colonial households in New England. The Narragansett and Eastern Niantic accepted some Pequot, and one band of Pequot was exiled to Long Island and became subject to the Metoac. For the most part, these Pequot were absorbed by their "hosts" within a few years and disappeared.

The remainder were placed under the Mohegan, and it is from this group that the two current Pequot tribes have evolved. The Mohegan treated their Pequot so badly that by 1655 the English were forced to remove them. Two reservations were established for the Pequot in 1666 and 1683. By 1762 there were only 140 Pequot, and the decline continued until reaching a low-point of 66 in the 1910 census.

At present, the State of Connecticut recognizes two Pequot tribes: Mashantucket and Paucatuck. The 600 Paucatuck (Eastern Pequot) have retained the Lantern Hill Reservation (226 acres) at North Stonington but are not federally recognized. The Mashantucket (Western Pequot) received federal recognition in 1983. Created from lands purchased from the profits of a bingo operation and successful land claim settlement, their Ledyard reservation has expanded to 1,800 acres. Dramatic changes occurred after a gambling casino began to generate enormous profits in 1992, and with 320 members, the Mashantucket have suddenly discovered that they have many "long-lost relatives."

Culture

Highly-organized, aggressive and warlike, the Pequot dominated Connecticut before 1637, a pattern continued later by the closely related Mohegan. As were their neighbors, the Pequot were an agricultural people who raised corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. Hunting, with an emphasis on fish and seafood because of their coastal location, provided the remainder of their diet. Clothing and housing were also similar - buckskin and semi-permanent villages of medium-sized longhouses and wigwams. For this reason, it is difficult today to distinguish between the site of a Pequot village and that of another tribe. The main difference being that Pequot villages were almost always heavily fortified.

The Pequot were not that much larger than the tribes surrounding them, but they differed from other Algonquin in their political structure. Highly organized, the strong central authority exercised by their tribal council and grand sachem gave the Pequot a considerable military advantage over their neighbors. In this way, the Pequot were more like the Narragansett of Rhode Island and the Mahican of New York's Hudson Valley (with whom they are frequently confused).

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