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The Pequot were a warlike nation of Indians who resided in south eastern Connecticut at the time of first European contact. It appears that the Pequot and the Mohegan people were originally one tribe which split into two some time around the beginning of the 16th Century. After the separation of the tribes, the Pequot still numbered about 3,000 people.
The name Pequot means ‘destroyers’ and is in reference to the warlike nature of these people. Other names for the Pequot are Pekoath, Pequin and Sagimo. The Pequot spoke the Algonquin Y dialect, which was also spoken by the Mohegan, the Narragansett and the Metoac people.
The Pequot were an agricultural people who raised corn, beans, squash and tobacco. They also hunted in the wintertime and fished. The villages were heavily fortified in case of enemy attack. Dwellings were of either wigwams or long houses. Unlike many other tribes the Pequot were highly organized with a central authority which rested with the tribal council and, ultimately, the grand sachem.
First contact with Europeans came in 1614, when Dutch Traders extended from the Hudson River Valley into and beyond the Connecticut River. The Dutch established relatively friendly relations with the Pequot and soon set up a flourishing trade in beaver furs. The Dutch intent was to trade with all of the tribes in the area, but the Pequot wanted exclusivity and, in order to obtain it, set about attacking the other tribes who dared to trade with the Dutch. By the early 1620’s these Pequot efforts to establish a monopoly had annoyed the Dutch to the extent that resident trader Jacob Elekens was moved to take a Pequot sachem hostage with the threat to kill him unless the Pequot ended their intimidation of other tribes who wished to trade with the Dutch. The result was that the Sachem was, in fact, killed. The Dutch would never again attempt to limit the control of the Pequot over the Connecticut fur trade. The Dutch also began accepting wampum as payment for goods from the Pequot. This induced the Pequot to invade the territory of the Metuoc where the best wampum was located. With access to the wampum which could be traded for firearms and other valuable goods the Pequot became even more powerful.
In the 1620’s the English appeared on the scene. Before long the Dutch had a rival player in the fur trade as well as in the allegiances of the tribes. It didn’t take long for a division to occur amongst the Pequot, with half of the tribe being pro English while the remainder wished to stay with the Dutch. The English faction, under the leadership of Uncas, soon left the main group and set up their own village. During the winter of 1633-4 a smallpox epidemic also ravaged the tribes, especially affecting the pro Dutch Pequot band. Within two years hostilities between these Pequot and the English had erupted into open warfare. When a Boston trader by the name of John Oldham was killed by Niantic warriors, the Bible bashing clergy amongst the English gave inflammatory sermons from their church pulpits that portrayed the English as the ‘Holy Ones’ fighting off the ‘Demons of Satan.’ After a punitive force of some ninety men was sent against the Niantic – and nineteen men killed – the English sent their military forces to the Pequot village demanding a payment of one thousand fathom of wampum and several children to take as hostages to redeem for the death of Oldham. The surprised Pequot leaders stalled the British soldiers while the villagers escaped into the wilderness. The British subsequently destroyed the empty village before turning around and returning home.
The Pequot were furious and now threw themselves into a war with the English. They could find, however, few allies. In fact, many of the surrounding tribes were more than eager to join the English against the Pequot. In initial attacks the Pequot had the better of the encounters. A turning point came, however, when 700 Pequot were trapped inside of one of their forts at Mystic as it was burned to the ground. Those that weren’t consumed by the flames were killed as they tried to escape. Those Pequot who remained were now systematically hunted down. When peace terms were finally arranged in 1638 the survivors were divided into different tribes – many of these being those tribes that the Pequot had formerly subjugated. Many women and children were sold as slaves to Bermuda. In the 19th Century they were confined to reservations. In recent decades the Pequot have regained their tribal unity. Today there are about one thousand Pequot living in the United States.
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