Pokanoket or Wampanoag?: The Origins of Names

Primary Source Evidence

Colonial References to Massasoit’s People (Pre-1675)

Pokanoket: People, Place, & Confederation

Linguistic Origins of “Wampanog”

Morphological Components of “Wampanoag” & Related Terms as compiled by Roger Williams

Figurate Map of Adrian Block (1614)

17th & 18th Century Use of the Term Wampanoag

King Philip War And Its Wampanoag Legacy

Political Identity & Modern Implications

The Pokanoket & the Myth of the Empty Land: Uncovering Pre-Colonial New England

Colonial Justifications: How Europeans Framed the Land as "Unoccupied"

Reassessing Pre-Contact Populations: From Mooney to Modern Scholarship

Table: Competing Estimates of Pre-Contact Indigenous Population in Southern New England

Demographic Collapse: The Catastrophic Impact of Eurasian Diseases

Global Parallels: Indigenous Depopulation in Australia and the Americas

Restoring the Pokanoket to History

The Cleared Land & Buried Truths: Rewriting Pokanoket Stewardship in Colonial New England

Colonial Misrepresentations and Their Legacy

Archaeological Findings

Map of Sowams: By Ruth Major

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity

Land Use & Settlement Patterns

13 Moons Cycle

European Encounters and Misunderstandings

King Philip's War: A Conflict Over Land

Massasoit’s Domain: The Pokanoket Confederation and the Politics of Survival in Colonial New England

Unraveling Indigenous Governance in Pre-Colonial New England

The Land Before Contact: A Thriving Indigenous Landscape

The Sachemships

Indigenous Governance & The Pokanoket

The Structure of the Pokanoket Confederation

Mapping the Reach of Massasoit’s Domain

The Arrival of the English: Diplomacy or Desperation?

The Treaty of Peace

Comparative Obligations of Confederation Leaders

The Instruments of Submission

Nine Sachems Who Signed the September 13, 1621 “Instrument of Submission”

The Fragility of Alliance: Tensions and Betrayals

Legacy of the Confederation in An Uncertain World

Death of Massasoit Wamsutta

Continuous Epidemics Weaken The Pokanoket Confederation

King Philip: The Last Massasoit

Epilogue: Reclaiming a Lost History