Pokanoket Voices

Historical map of southern New England during King Philip’s War, circa 1675, showing the Pokanoket homeland and neighboring Indigenous nations, including the Narragansett, Nipmuc, Mohegan, Pequot, Pawtucket, Abenaki, Mohawk, and Montauk. The map highlights major rivers, waterways, English colonial settlements, and colonized areas that shaped Indigenous kinship, alliances, migration, conflict, and survival.

The Geography of Survival: Indigenous Kinship & King Philip’s War

Explore King Philip’s War through a Pokanoket and broader Indigenous perspective. This article examines how geography influenced Metacom’s resistance and the different pathways of survival Indigenous peoples followed. It explores how waterways and kinship networks shaped alliances, migration, refuge, and conflict across New England—and how the Pokanoket and other Indigenous communities endured long after the war.

Historical illustration of Pokanoket Revolutionary War soldier Simeon Simons meeting General George Washington at Pachaug, Connecticut, in 1775.

Simeon Simons: Remembering a Pokanoket Patriot

As America commemorates the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this article explores the remarkable story of Simeon Simons, an Indigenous Revolutionary War soldier from Connecticut remembered by his descendants as Pokanoket and a descendant of Metacom (King Philip). Simons served in the Continental Army and was remembered in family and local tradition for his association with General George Washington.

Drawing upon military records, local histories, The Narragansett Dawn, and the family history preserved by Simeon's descendant Princess Red Wing (Mary E. Glasko Weeden), the article examines how Pokanoket memory survived the devastating aftermath of King Philip's War through migration, intermarriage, kinship, and adaptation. It also explores how changing government racial classifications often obscured Indigenous identities that continued to be preserved within families.

Simeon's story connects two defining moments in American history: King Philip's War and the American Revolution. Nearly a century after Metacom resisted English colonial expansion, a man remembered within his family as belonging to Metacom's bloodline fought for American independence. His story reminds us that the destruction of Pokanoket political autonomy did not mean the disappearance of the Pokanoket people.

Our story did not end in 1676.

Nineteenth-century engraving depicting Roger Williams negotiating with the Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi for the establishment of Providence in 1636, illustrating Indigenous diplomacy and political authority in early colonial New England.

The English Entered A Indigenous World: Borderlands, Diplomacy, and Power in Early New England

Challenges the myth that Indigenous political authority disappeared after Plymouth, demonstrating how the Pokanokets and Narragansetts continued shaping early New England through diplomacy, borderlands, and competing spheres of influence.

The Pan-Indian Movement mural, created by Deborah Spears Moorehead, who identifies as a member of the Seaconke Pokanoket Wampanoag Tribal Nation, reflects the continuity of Indigenous identity & memory in Rhode Island.

Who Speaks for the Past? Indigenous Memory, Survival, and the Pokanoket Question in Southern New England.

Why do different Indigenous communities remember the same history differently? This article explores how war, survival, and colonialism shaped competing memories of the Pokanoket, Wampanoag, Mashpee, and Aquinnah, challenging readers to reconsider who speaks for the Indigenous past.

Historic map of Narragansett Bay showing Sowams, Mount Hope, Aquidneck Island, and the ancestral Pokanoket homeland in present-day Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

Aquidneck Island, Ousamequin, and the Problem of Indigenous Borderlands

Who held influence over Aquidneck Island before colonization? This article challenges the idea that the 1638 Narragansett deed settled the question. Instead, it argues that 1638 was the beginning, not the conclusion of our understanding of Aquidneck’s deeper Indigenous history. Drawing on oral tradition, colonial accounts, geography, and modern scholarship, the article explores Aquidneck as a contested Indigenous borderland shaped by the Pokanoket–Narragansett rivalry, the Great Dying, and shifting regional political power.

Pokanoket or Wampanoag?: The Origins of Names

The Indigenous people who first interacted with the Pilgrims in 1621 identified themselves as Pokanoket, not Wampanoag. The widespread use of "Wampanoag" to describe this group is a colonial-era distortion that emerged after King Philip’s War (1675–1678), obscuring the true political and cultural identity of Massasoit Ousamequin’s people.

The Seizure and Transformation of Mount Hope

Mount Hope, seized from the Pokanoket in 1676, undergoes a centuries-long journey of colonial ownership and eventual partial restoration to Indigenous stewardship.

Historical illustration of Pokanoket people and English colonists in 17th-century New England, representing the Pokanoket Confederation of Massasoit Ousamequin, the Sowams homeland, and early Indigenous-colonial relations.

We Were Never Wampanoag: Erasing Pokanoket

This article examines the historical identity of the Pokanoket and the later emergence of “Wampanoag” as a broader regional identity. Drawing on 17th-century records, linguistic scholarship, and Indigenous history, it explores how Pokanoket identity was rooted in territory, kinship, and political sovereignty, and how war, colonization, displacement, and changing historical terminology contributed to the decline of the Pokanoket name in the written record.

Pokanoket Refugees Flee To Wabanaki Lands After King Philip’s War

At the conclusion of King Philip's War, surviving Pokanokets faced enslavement or worse at the hands of the victorious English colonist, but many found refuge and continued their resistance among northern kin in New England.

19th-century historical illustration depicting the death of Wamsutta, also known as Alexander, Massasoit of the Pokanoket, following his arrest by Plymouth Colony authorities in 1662.

The Suspicious Death of Wamsutta: Prelude to War

This article examines the life, leadership, and suspicious death of Massasoit Wamsutta, eldest son and successor of Ousamequin. It explores Wamsutta’s efforts to defend Pokanoket sovereignty, strengthen Indigenous alliances, and resist Plymouth Colony’s growing political control. His arrest and sudden death in English custody in 1662 deepened Pokanoket distrust of Plymouth and became an important prelude to the conflict that erupted thirteen years later as King Philip’s War.

The Conflict the English Provoked: King Philip’s War

Explore King Philip's War, a brutal conflict that reshaped New England. Discover how this clash between the Pokanoket and English colonists irrevocably altered Indigenous sovereignty and land.

Beyond Recognition: The Pokanoket Land Return and the Power of Survivance

A historic land return to the unrecognized Pokanoket Tribe challenges conventional ideas of justice and recognition. Discover how this act affirms the enduring power of Indigenous identity and "survivance" against centuries of erasure.

The Origins of Names: Pokanoket or Wampanoag?

Discover the history of Indigenous peoples, the original inhabitants of what is now the United States, has been misrepresented and distorted through colonial narratives.

Sowams: The Sacred Center of the Pokanoket World

Uncover the true significance of Sowams, not just as a historical settlement, but as the enduring heart of the powerful Pokanoket Confederacy. Learn how modern acts of reclamation are restoring justice and reaffirming the sovereign identity of the Pokanoket Tribe.

Ancestral Fields: Pokanoket Agriculture, the Three Sisters, and Ecological Wisdom

Discover the sophisticated and sustainable agricultural practices of the Pokanoket people, from the "Three Sisters" to their lunar calendar. Learn how their ancestral wisdom offers powerful lessons for today's climate challenges.

This digital lantern slide from the American Museum of Natural History depicts the daily life of Eastern Woodland Indigenous peoples, including agriculture, hunting, food preparation, and community activity near bark lodges and waterways. Preserved through the Lantern Slides – Palisades Interstate Park Commission collection, the image provides a valuable visual interpretation of Indigenous life in the northeastern woodlands and reflects early twentieth century museum efforts to document Indigenous cultures.

The Wetu: Traditional Home of the Northeastern Algonquian Peoples

This article explores the history, design, and cultural significance of the Indigenous wetu, the traditional dome-shaped home used by many Northeastern Indigenous communities including the Pokanoket. Drawing on historical accounts, Indigenous scholarship, and environmental perspectives, the piece highlights how the wetu reflected sustainable living, seasonal stewardship, and a deep spiritual relationship with the natural world.

Massasoit Ousamequin & The Pokanoket Confederation: A Sovereign Indigenous Power

Discover Massasoit Ousamequin, not just a chief, but the leader of the powerful Pokanoket Confederation, a sovereign Indigenous nation that shaped early New England. Uncover how this sophisticated alliance thrived through diplomacy and kinship, challenging colonial narratives of submission.

Welcome to the Official Website of The Pokanoket Tribe