Name Namumpum Weetamoo Children Massasoit | ||
 | ||
Full Name Namumpum Weetamoo Nickname(s) WeetamoeWenunchusTatapanunum Died 1676, Taunton, Massachusetts, United States | ||
The legend and lore of weetamoo woods
Weetamoo (c. 1635–1676), also referred to as Weethao, Weetamoe, Wenunchus, Wattimore, Namumpum, and Tatapanunum, was a Pocasset Wampanoag Native American Chief. She was the sunksqua, or female sachem, of Pocasset. She was born in the Mattapoiset village of the Pokanoket or at Rhode Island's Taunton River area, and died at Taunton River. Her father was either Corbitant, sachem of the Pocasset tribe in present-day North Tiverton, Rhode Island, c. 1618–1630 or Passaconaway, a chieftain in the Pennacook. She had five husbands, the most famous of whom was Wamsutta, the eldest son of Massasoit, grand sachem of the Wampanoag and participant in the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims.
Contents
- The legend and lore of weetamoo woods
- Things to do in sunapee diving to the wreck of the weetamoo
- Weetamoos life
- Weetamoos legacy
- References
According to the Tiverton Four Corners website, "the squaw sachem, Weetamoo" governed the Pocasset tribe, which occupied today's Tiverton, Rhode Island in 1620. Weetamoo joined "with King Philip in fighting the colonists" in 1675, in King Philip's War, also known as "Metacomet's Rebellion." King Philip’s War is named for the uprising of Metacomet, Weetamoo’s brother in law and the younger brother of Wamsutta, who was also known by the English name Philip. Early on in the war, Weetamoo gave support to Metacomet by aiding his forces with the strength of her soldiers.
Things to do in sunapee diving to the wreck of the weetamoo
Weetamoo's life
Weetamoo/Wenunchus was married five times.
She became sunksqua because her father had no sons, and was defended by an army of more than 300 men that she commanded. Her being a woman did not diminish her authority, despite many colonists’ lack of understanding of her position. It has been theorized that some of the lesser known sachems assumed to have been male may have been female sunksquas, especially since female leaders were not unheard of among the Algonquian tribes.
Eventually, the English defeated the Wampanoag in August 1676. Weetamoo drowned in the Taunton River trying to escape. Her dead body was mutilated, and her head was displayed on a pole in Taunton, MA. Little else is known about her final days or death, or of the deaths of her soldiers who traveled with her. The story of her corpse being beheaded comes from the writings of minister Increase Mather.
Weetamoo's legacy
Weetamoo's adolescent life was made into a children's historical novel in The Royal Diaries series entitled Weetamoo, Heart of the Pocasetts: Rhode Island-Massachusetts, 1653.
Weetamoo/Wattimore also appears in print in Mary Rowlandson's The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. In 1676, Weetamoo and her relative Quinnapin, the sachem of Narragansett, attacked a colonial settlement in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Rowlandson, who was captured and held by Quinnapin for three months, left a vivid description of Weetamoo's appearance as well as personality:
"A severe and proud dame she was, bestowing every day in dressing herself neat as much time as any of the gentry of the land: powdering her hair, and painting her face, going with necklaces, with jewels in her ears, and bracelets upon her hands. When she had dressed herself, her work was to make girdles of wampum and beads."
Many places in the White Mountains of New Hampshire are also named after her, such as Weetamoo Falls, Mount Weetamoo, the Weetamoo Trail (which includes Weetamoo Glen and Weetamoo Rock), and the Six Husbands Trail, a reference to her marriages. However, there is no evidence that Weetamoo ever went to the White Mountains, and the area’s focus on her may come from John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “The Bridal of Penacook,” which names her as being from the area.
Weetamoo Woods Open Space in Tiverton, Rhode Island is named after Weetamoo. A 50-foot vessel, Weetamoo, built in 1902, "was named after the daughter of an Indian Chief in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Bride of Penacook." The vessel served on Lake Sunapee for 25 years before being scuttled. Lowell YWCA Camp Weetamoo is located on Long-Sought-for Pond in Westford, MA.