The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a
Native American tribe
In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...
who lived in
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
,
. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely-related neighbors, the
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 17 ...
.
Although the Nauset were a distinct tribe, they were often subject to Wampanoag rule and shared with them many similar aspects of culture, agricultural practices, and a common tongue, the
Massachusett language
The Massachusett language is an Algonquian language of the Algic language family, formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is spoken in four communities of Wampanoag people ...
. Living along the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, the Nauset relied heavily on seafood.
The tribe was one of the first to be visited by
European explorers and colonists, who abducted some tribal members to sell into
slavery in Spain
Slavery in Spain can be traced to the slag era, Phoenicians and Romans. In the 9th century the Muslim Moorish rulers and local Jewish merchants traded in Spanish and Eastern European Christian slaves. Spain began to trade slaves in the 15th cent ...
and introduced diseases which reduced the Nauset population even before colonization of New England began on a large scale.
The
Pilgrims' first contact with the Nauset was during the ''
Mayflower
''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
's'' landing near present-day
Provincetown
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
, when they discovered a deserted village, the Nauset being away at their winter hunting grounds. Desperately low on supplies, the Pilgrims helped themselves to a cache of maize, though they left a note (in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
) promising to pay for what they had stolen. The promise was eventually kept when the Nauset, led by Aspinet,
returned months later. The Nauset also returned a small boy who had wandered away from the colony and become lost, an act which greatly improved relations with nearby colonists.
[Swanton, John R. ''The Indian Tribes of North America''.]
In subsequent years, the Nauset became the colonists' closest allies. Most became
Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
and aided the colonists as scouts and warriors against the Wampanoag during
King Philip's War
King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
. Their numbers, always small, were further reduced. They intermarried with neighboring tribes and settlers after King Philip's War.
[
]
Legacy
* Nauset Regional High School
Nauset Regional High School is an NEASC accredited high school located in Eastham, Massachusetts, United States and a part of Nauset Public Schools. Nauset is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, making it the only high school on the East Coast ...
is located in North Eastham
North Eastham is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Eastham in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,806 at the 2010 census.
The main visitor center of the Cape Cod National Seashore is located in North ...
, within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore
The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS), created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includ ...
, and serves students from Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and surrounding towns.
* Nauset Regional Middle School is located in Orleans, and serves students from the same towns as the high school.
* Nauset Light Beach, North Eastham
* Nauset Beach, Orleans
See also
* Native American tribes in Massachusetts
Native American tribes in Massachusetts are the Native American tribes and their reservations that existed historically and those that still exist today in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Narragansett term for this region is Ninn ...
References
External links
Nauset History
{{authority control
Algonquian ethnonyms
Algonquian peoples
Eastham, Massachusetts
Native American tribes in Massachusetts
Wampanoag tribe