Cockenoe and Sherwood Islands (9206764535)

Cockenoe (also known as Cockeno, Cockenow, Chachaneu, Cheekanoo, Cockenoe, Chickino, Chekkonnow, Cockoo) (born before 1630 and died after 1687) was an early Native American translator from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in New York where he was a member of the Montaukett. He helped to translate the earliest parts of the Eliot Indian Bible, the first Bible published in America. In 1637 Cockenoe was captured during the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragans ...

by a Massachusetts militia unit. After being captured and brought back to Massachusetts, Cockenoe became a servant to Richard Callicot, a fur trader, in

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

. John Sassamon, a prominent Native American translator, also grew up as a servant in Callicot's household in Dorchester. Similarly, Cockenoe became an early American translator and interpreter, and one of the first people who mastered English and several Algonquian languages, including the Massachusett language. Cockenoe helped translate the Eliot Indian Bible, the first Bible printed in America. John Eliot stated that Cockenoe assisted Eliot in translating "the Commandments, the Lords Prayer, and many Texts of Scripture: also I compiled both exhortations and prayers by his help." At some point between 1646 and 1649, shortly after Eliot began preaching, Cockenoe returned to the Long Island area where he served as an interpreter for many land transactions between local tribes and colonists. In 1667 he married "“Sunksquaw” of the Shinnecock; "a female Sachem, the sister of Nowedonah" or possibly "

Wyandanch Wyandanch (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,990 at the 2020 census. In the past, some or all of Wyandanch was proposed to become part of the never-realiz ...

." Cockenoe died after 1687 when his name last appears in the records in a Montauk deed. There is currently a Cockenoe Island near the Connecticut shore in the

Norwalk Islands The Norwalk Islands are a chain of more than 25 islands amid partly submerged boulders, reefs and mudflats along a six-mile (10 km) stretch and mostly about a mile off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut, and southwest Westport, Connecticut, i ...

of Long Island Sound named after him.

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