Nauset Regional High School, March 2014
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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, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...
who lived in
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the
Wampanoag The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...
. Although the Nauset were a distinct tribe from the
Wampanoag The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...
, they often deferred to the authority of the Wampanoag chief
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 Alg ...
, and shared with the Wampanoag many similar aspects of culture, agricultural practices, and a common tongue, the
Massachusett language The Massachusett language is an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language of the Algic languages, Algic language family that was formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is s ...
. 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 began in the 15th century and reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African s ...
and introduced diseases which reduced the Nauset population even before colonization of New England began on a large scale.


Historical record

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
describes contact with the Nauset people at Nauset Harbor in July of 1605. During this visit a member of the French expedition and several native people were killed in a dispute over a metal kettle. The Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims' first contact with the Nauset was during the ''
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...
's'' landing in November, 1620 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, Pr ...
, 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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
) 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 a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
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 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...
. Their numbers, always small, were further reduced. They intermarried with neighboring tribes and settlers after King Philip's War.


Lifeways

Living along the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, the Nauset relied heavily on seafood, but also impressed European explorers with the productivity of their
swidden agriculture Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The ...
based on the " three sisters" of maize, beans, squash, as well as Jerusalem artichokes,
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
and
silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...
of mast trees. They consumed maize boiled whole in earthen pots, or prepared a maize flour with mortar and pestle which was then made into corn cakes. During the autumn, they hunted wild
turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
using bows and arrows tipped with the spines of
horseshoe crabs Horseshoe crabs are arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only surviving xiphosurans. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or even crustaceans; they are chelicerates, more closely related to arachnids like spiders, ticks, and scorpi ...
and fletched with turkey feathers. They also armed themselves with clubs and spears for defense. In the summer of 1605 when they were visited by Champlain, clothing consisted of leather
loincloths A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and sometimes the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or breechclo ...
for both men and women, at times grass or
hemp dogbane ''Apocynum cannabinum'' (dogbane, amy root, hemp dogbane, prairie dogbane, Indian hemp, hemp dogsbane, rheumatism root, dogsbane, or wild cotton) is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows throughout much of North America—in the southern hal ...
tunics, and open-front skin wraps for women. Both genders decorated their skins with black, yellow, and red pigments, and plaited or twisted their hair, decorating it with shell beads. Men plucked their beards, and cut the hair on top of their head short, leaving the rest long.


Legacy

*
Nauset Regional High School Nauset Regional High School is an NEASC accredited secondary education in the United States, high school located in Eastham, Massachusetts, United States and a part of Nauset Public Schools. Nauset is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, makin ...
is located in North Eastham, within the boundaries of the
Cape Cod National Seashore The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years pr ...
, and serves students from
Brewster Brewster may refer to: People *Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist * Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut * Grace Brewster Hopper (born 1906), American computer scientist, mathematician, and ...
, 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 may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...


References


External links


Nauset History
{{authority control Algonquian ethnonyms Algonquian peoples Eastham, Massachusetts Native American tribes in Massachusetts