Wepitanock (also known as Momojosbuck or Wettamozo or Aquawoce) (died after 1651) was an Eastern Niantic chief sachem in the area around Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Wepitanock | |
---|---|
Eastern Niantic leader | |
Chief Sachem | |
Personal details | |
Died | after 1651 |
Relations | siblings: Quaiapen, Ninigret |
Children | Harman Garrett, Wequash Cooke |
Wepitanock was likely Canonicus' nephew and was the older brother of Ninigret with whom he shared power.[1] His sister was Queen Quaiapen. Wepitanock had at least one wife (whose name is unknown but who may have been a Pequot as she is referred to as a "stranger"). Roger Williams describes Wepitanock as Miantonomi's brother-in-law. Wepitanock had at least four sons and one daughter, who married her uncle Ninigret.[2] Wepitanock's sons were Harman Garrett and Wequash Cooke and Tomtico and another unnamed son who died in 1650 according to Roger Williams.[3][4] After Wepitanock's death Ninigret contested the claims to power of Wepitanock's sons because they were only half Niantic.[5]
References edit
- ^ LaFantasie, Glenn W., ed. The Correspondence of Roger Williams, University Press of New England, 1988, Vol. 1, p.77(n).
- ^ LaFantasie, 77
- ^ LaFantasie, 324.
- ^ Forest, John William De (1853). History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850. W. J. Hammersley.
- ^ Thatcher, Benjamin Bussey (1832). Indian Biography, Or, An Historical Account of Those Individuals who Have Been Distinguished Among the North American Natives as Orators, Warriors, Statesmen, and Other Remarkable Characters. J. & J. Harper.