Ponkapoag

Ponkapoag /ˈpɒŋkəpɔːɡ/, also Punkapaug,[1] Punkapoag, or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "praying town" settled in the western Blue Hills area of eastern Massachusetts during the colonization of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States by settlers from Britain in the 17th century. It is the name given to the winter residence (and subsequently to the tribe) of the group of Massachusett who lived at the mouth of the Neponset River near Dorchester in the summer, in what was known as Neponset Mill.[2] Ponkapoag is now contained almost entirely by the town of Canton, Massachusetts.[3] The name is derived from a nearby pond 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Great Blue Hill; Ponkapoag means "shallow pond" or "a spring that bubbles from red soil".[4]

Historic marker on Massachusetts Route 138 indicating the northern boundary of the Ponkapoag settlement

History

Ponkapoag Plantation was established in 1657 as a 6,000-acre (2,400 ha) town parcel formed from Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony.[3][5] It was the second Christianized native settlement, or "Praying Town" in Massachusetts, after Natick was established in 1651.[3][6] In 1654 members of the Nemasket Tribe located in the village of Cohannet in current day Bristol County were among the first Native Americans relocated as part of King Philip's War to Ponkapoag.[7] From 1657 to his death around 1670, Quashaamit (William) served as a teaching minister in Ponkapoag, and also deeded large parcels of land in modern day, Mendon, Milford, Braintree (Quincy), and North Smithfield.[8]

The Massachusett (punkapoags) still live within their territory today.

References
  1. David McCullough, John Adams, p. 72 (New York: Simon & Schuster 2001) ISBN 0-684-81363-7. Found online at Internet Archive. Accessed May 8, 2011.
  2. Daniel Gookin, Historical Collections of the Indians in New England, (1792)
  3. Huntoon, Daniel T. V. (1893). "Ponkapoag Plantation". History of the Town of Canton. Cambridge, Massachusetts: John Wilson and Son. pp. 10–13. OCLC 3615638. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  4. Douglas-Lithgow, Robert Alexander (1909). Dictionary of American-Indian place and proper names in New England. Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Press. p. 148. OCLC 621081. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  5. "Neponsett / Ponkapoag Tribe Home Page". Ponkapoag Tribal Council. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  6. "Our History". Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  7. Massachusetts Indian Towns, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906.
  8. James N. Arnold, The Narragansett Historical Register (RI) Vol. 6, (1888), pg. 72-74 https://books.google.com/books?isbn=078840511X


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