Wampanoag People - Wampanoag

Wampanoag

Historical leaders included:

• Massasoit, the sachem who first met the English
• Massasoit's oldest son Wamsutta (known by the English as King Alexander), who died under mysterious circumstances after visiting with English colonial administrators in Plymouth
• His second son Metacom or Metacomet (King Philip), who initiated the war against the English known as King Philip's War (1675–1676) in retaliation for the death of his brother at the hands of the English
• Corbitant, 17th-century sachem of the Pocasset
• Sachem Weetamoo of the Pocasset, a woman who supported Metacom and drowned crossing the Taunton River while fleeing the English
• Sachem Awashonks of the Sakonnet, a woman who at first fought the English but changed sides
• Annawan, a war leader.

Other notable figures:

• Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, the first student at the Indian College at Harvard College
• Amos Haskins, 19th-century whaling captain
• Sonny Dove, professional basketball player, New York City Basketball Hall of Fame
• Cedric Cromwell, Elected Tribal Council Chairman, 2009
• Epenow, a Nauset taken captive by English explorers in the 17th century, he was taken to England, where he learned the language. He convinced the English to return to North America, where he escaped and rejoined his people.
• Russell "Fast Turtle" Peters
• Blind Joe Amos
• Vernon "Silent Drum" Lopez
• John "Slow Turtle" Peters, supreme medicine man
• Jessie Little Doe Baird, linguist, co-founder and director of the Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) Language Reclamation Project, which has been the first to revive a Native American language after all the speakers had died. In 2010 she was selected as a MacArthur Fellow.