Wompatuck

Wompatuck (ca. 1627[1]-1669), also spelled Wampatuck, and known to English settlers as Josiah Sagamore, was a leader of the Mattakeesett tribe of the Massachusett Indians. His name meant "snow goose" in the Wampanoag language. His English surname reflects his status as sachem, as well as that he was the son of Massachusett sachem Chickatawbut.

For ships of this name, see USS Wampatuck (YT-337) and USS Wompatuck (YT-27).

After Wompatuck's father, Chickatawbut died of smallpox in 1633, Wompatuck's uncle, Cutshamekin succeeded as sachem and helped to raise Wompatuck. After Cutshamekin died around 1655, Wompatuck succeeded him and likewise became an early friend of European settlers. Like his father and uncle, he sold the British colonists the land upon which the city of Boston, Massachusetts, was established in 1629 and other surrounding towns were established. Wompatuck married "Westamoo, the widow of Alexander, who was the son of Massasoit. She was known as the “Squaw Sachem of Pocasset.” Josiah Wampatuck... made his home on Furnace Pond."[2]

After a harsh attack on his tribe by the Hodenesaunee Iroquois in 1665, Wompatuck organized a great retaliatory expedition, involving several Massachusett tribes with 600 or 700 warriors, against Mohawk's capital, Gandaouaguè. Returning to Massachusetts, his column was ambushed and he was slain in 1669 when he led a force of his warriors in an attack upon the Mohawks. Wompatuck's son, Charles Josiah Wompatuck, became sachem after his death.[3]

Namesakes

Two United States Navy ships – the armed tug USS Wompatuck (YT-27), in commission from 1898 to 1931, and the harbor tug USS Wampatuck (YT-337), later YTB-337, in commission from 1942 to 1946 – have been named for Wompatuck.

Wompatuck State Park located in Hingham, Massachusetts is also named after him. Braintree, Massachusetts intended to honor Wompatuck's warrior heritage by calling its sports teams the "Wamps." The use of the name and icon have been heavily debated among local residents in recent years.

References
  1. Wompatuck Victim of Mohawk War, WOMPATUCK NEWS, By Jim Rose, FOW News Editor and Historian https://friendsofwompatuck.org/newsletter/FOW4.pdf
  2. Karen Proctor, "Pembroke’s Past -- Pembroke’s native peoples," May 11, 2007 https://pembroke.wickedlocal.com/article/20070511/NEWS/305119413
  3. Wompatuck Victim of Mohawk War, WOMPATUCK NEWS, By Jim Rose, FOW News Editor and Historian https://friendsofwompatuck.org/newsletter/FOW4.pdf


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