Tunxis
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The Tunxis were a group of
Quiripi Quiripi (pronounced , also known as Mattabesic, Quiripi-Unquachog, Quiripi-Naugatuck, and Wampano) was an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language formerly spoken by the indigenous people of Gold Coast (Connecticut), southwestern Connecticut and ...
speaking
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
Native Americans that is known to history mainly through their interactions with English settlers in New England. Broadly speaking, their location makes them one of the Eastern Algonquian-speaking peoples of Northeastern North America, whose languages shared a common root. More locally they were one of a number of Native communities in the lower
Connecticut River Valley The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
who shared common cultural traits. In 1634, shortly after English colonists migrating from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
moved into the region, a smallpox epidemic swept through the region, killing many of the natives; the Tunxis people would have been as affected as the other groups. At the time the English colonization began, the main settlement of the Tunxis was on the
Farmington River The Farmington River is a river, U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in length along its main stem, located in northwest Connecticut with major tributaries ex ...
, some distance upstream from its confluence with the Connecticut River. In 1640, the Tunxis sold their agricultural fields to the governor of the
Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...
, who was acting on behalf of a group of colonists from nearby
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, who called their new settlement
Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...
. The Tunxis retained an area beside the Farmington River that came to be called “Indian Neck.” This deed was confirmed by another deed in 1650. In the 1640s, the Tunxis community may have had between 100 and 150 members. Relations with the colonists were often uneasy, and the Tunxis were also involved in multiple meetings and skirmishes with other tribes. Because of this, in 1658 the General Court ordered the group to move its settlement from the east side of the Farmington River, very close to the center of the white settlement, to a site on the west side, on high ground soon known as "Fort Hill". In 1673 the Tunxis' disagreement with the Farmington settlers about the limits of the earlier sale led to the execution of a new confirmatory deed, with 200 acres of upland reserved to the Indians; their continuing ownership of the land at Indian Neck was confirmed in a postscript to the deed. Perhaps as a result of this recent amicable agreement, the Tunxis did not flee their homes or join with the Indians 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 ...
(1675-1676), and some served as scouts for the colonists’ forces. In 1688, the Tunxis demonstrated their friendliness by allowing a local Englishmen to suggest who he felt their
sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
(leader) should be, and accepted his choice. Encroachment on the Tunxis landholdings by English colonists caused them to make at least two complaints to the
Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...
during the 18th century. In 1738, a petition claimed that most of Indian Neck had been taken over by non-Indian neighbors, but no action was taken. In 1768, one James Wauwus (with others) presented another petition, which stated that the English had taken over all of Indian Neck. A committee appointed by the legislature found that only four of a multitude of deeds had been properly validated by the legislature, but then recommended recognizing many of the others anyway. Wauwus and others protested, and the General Assembly rejected the report, but exactly what happened after that is not clear. Over time, the Tunxis had become largely Christianized and sold parts of their remaining land to settle debts. As more and more European settlers crowded into Farmington, the idea of moving away to secure more land and the company of more people like themselves held more appeal. In 1774, the Tunxis decided to sell their remaining lands and use the proceeds to move to the Brothertown settlement in the
Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...
territory in New York. A few remained behind;
Samson Occom Samson Occom (1723 – July 14, 1792; also misspelled as Occum and Alcom) was a member of the Mohegan nation, from near New London, Connecticut, who became a Presbyterian cleric. Occom was the second Native American to publish his writings in Eng ...
counted eight in 1785. Some members of these families lingered in town until the late 19th century.Bickford, C. P. and Farmington Historical Society. ''Farmington in Connecticut''. Canaan, NH: Phoenix Pub., 1982.


See also

*
Massaco Massaco was a native settlement near the present-day towns of Simsbury and Canton along the banks of the Farmington River. The small, local Algonquian-speaking Indians who lived there in the 17th and early 18th centuries belonged to the Tunx ...
, a Tunxis settlement


References


External links


Connecticut State Library
{{authority control Algonquian ethnonyms Extinct Native American tribes Native American tribes in Connecticut