From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| Total population |
|---|
| 500+ |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA |
| Languages |
| English (formerly spoke an Algonquian language) |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
| other Algonquian peoples[1] |
The Nipmuc (also spelled Nipmuck)[2] are a group of Algonquian Indians native to Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Name
Their name has also been spelled as Nipnet, Neepmuck, Neepnet, Neetmock, Neipnett and Nipmug. The name originated from the Algonquian language word "nipnet" (or something similar) meaning literally "small pond place" and is sometimes translated as "fresh water people." Lake Chaubunagungamaug, with which they have long been associated, may be the source of this name.[3]
[edit] Language
The Nipmuc spoke an Algonquian language akin to that of their neighbors. Some scholars consider their language extinct, although it is not considered as such by Nipmuc tribal members as it is spoken proficiently by about ten people, some of whom learned the language from elders--and is currently being taught with curriculum. Moreover, Nipmuc prayers and songs have continued up to the present in their original language at tribal gatherings. The primary source for the language is Gordon Day's (1975) redaction of Father Mathevet's 17th-century notes on the language of the 'Loup', who are believed to have been either the Nipmuc or else another closely-related tribe in central Massachusetts.
The "L-dialect" spoken by the Nipmuc was closely related to the "N-dialect" of the Massachuset.[3]
[edit] Territory
The Nipmuc were once more numerous and wide-ranging than they are today. In early times, according to one appraisal:
| “ | There never was a Nipmuc tribe as such. Nipmuc is a geographical classification given to the native peoples who lived in central Massachusetts and the adjoining parts of southern New England. They lived in independent bands and villages, some of which at different times were allied with, or subject to, the powerful native confederacies which surrounded them. Massomuck, Monashackotoog, and Quinnebaug were Nipmuc, but they were subject to the Pequot before 1637. In like manner, the Nashaway at one time belonged to the Sokoni and Pennacook, while Squawkeag was originally part of the Pocumtuc.[3] | ” |
The 500+ remaining Nipmuc recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts live in and around the Chaubunagungamaug Reservation in Webster and the Hassanamisco Reservation in Grafton. Their territory may once have extended into northern Rhode Island and northeast Connecticut.[3]
[edit] Legal Status
This Indian group has long been recognized by the state of Massachusetts, but in 2004 the Bureau of Indian Affairs decided that this group does not meet four of the seven mandatory requirements for Federal acknowledgment as a "nation".[4]
This specific legal determination prevents the Nipmuc from dealing with the U.S. Government on a "government-to-government" basis.
The decision and was made on the basis of such points as Nipmuc families having long owned their land individually rather than communally and having been legally "detribalized" by the Massachusetts Enfranchisement Act of 1869.[5]
As such, this determination is in no way a defamation of the Nipmuc people past or present and the Nipmuc, like the Wampanoag, continue to have a special status within the Commonwealth.
[edit] Pre-colonial history
Coming from the southwest, Paleo Indians settled New England over 10,000 years ago, hunting the animals that inhabited the subarctic environment. During the Archaic Period (8000 BCE–1000 BCE) the climate slowly warmed, bringing new plants and animals as well as changes in human culture and lifestyle.
During this period, the Nipmuc's ancestors were producing stone bowls, making bark, woven and wooden containers, and developed a written language, which remained in use until the historical period. Pesuponcks (ceremonial stone sweat lodges) were used for purification rituals and many of these ancient chambers can still be found near the sites of Nipmuc villages.
During the Woodland Period (1000 BCE–1000 CE) and later, trade and with other peoples brought the "three sisters" (maize, beans, and squash), encouraging an agricultural based society. In time, Nipmuc territory was at the hub of the "Great Path" to all parts of the northeast. [6]
Nipmuc homes were framed of deciduous saplings covered with skins, bark and woven mats. The bow and arrow supplemented the use of spears in hunting and war.
[edit] Colonial-era history
As early as 1630 there is a record of a Nipmuc known as Acquittamaug walking to Boston with his father, each carrying a bushel and a half of corn from Woodstock, Connecticut, to the starving settlers for sale. Just a generation later the colonists were offering bounties on the scalps of Nipmuc men, women, and children.
Regarding the Nipmuc, one historian wrote:
| “ | Estimates of the pre-contact population of the Nipmuc are at best confusing, because there is no agreement as to which groups belonged to the Nipmuc. The numbers vary between 3,000 and 10,000 with as many as 40 villages. Some Nipmuc tribes were subject to the Pequot and sometimes have been included as part of the Pequot Confederacy. Freed in 1637 after the destruction of the Pequot by the English, they were classified in later years as Nipmuc. Similar problems exist with members of the Narragansett, Massachusett, Pocumtuc, Western Abenaki, and Pennacook. None of which is important until totals are taken, and several thousand people have not been counted ...or else several times.[3] | ” |
In 1644, John Winthrop the Younger, son of the first leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, purchased the Tantiusques graphite mine and the surrounding land from the Nipmuc and began the first commercial mining operation on the site.[7]
By the 1650s, much of the Nipmuc peoples had been brought into the fold of what the colonists called "Praying Indians". During King Philip's War large numbers of Nipmuc, including many sachem, were either killed in battle or captured and hanged.
| “ | The first really accurate count of the Nipmuc occurred in 1680 following the King Philip's War. A little less than 1,000 Nipmuc survived, and these were confined to praying villages along with the remnants from other tribes. How many Nipmuc escaped to the Abenaki and Mahican and how many were killed during the war is anyone's guess. Within a few years it became impossible to assign tribal membership within the mixed populations at the praying villages.[3] | ” |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Day, Gordon M. 1975. The Mots Loups of Father Mathevet. Publications in Ethnology, no. 8. Ottawa: National Museum of Man.
- ^ See Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 442, where the Nipmuc are classed with the Narragansett, and noted to be speakers of an Eastern Algonquian language.
- ^ Note that although the Federal government used the spelling "Nipmuck" in the decision described herein, the "Nipmuc" spelling is more used by members of the group themselves (as evidenced by the flag illustrated above). Likewise, search engine hits for "Nipmuc" greatly outnumber those for "Nipmuck.:
- ^ a b c d e f Nipmuc History
- ^ Martin Issues Final Determination to Decline Federal Acknowledgment of The Nipmuc Nation
- ^ [1] Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Webster/ Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians
- ^ Landscape Planning Study
- ^ The Trustees of Reservations
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