Sassacus Sachem of the Pequot
13th Great Grandfather
b. 1536, Groton, New London, Connecticut
d. June 1637, New York
Sassacus was Sachem of the Pequot. His daughter Quashawan of the Pequot (12th great grandmother) married Monqolucksee Sachem of the Montauk (12th great grandfather). Their son was Wyandanch Sachem of the Montauk (11th great grandfather).
The Pequots were the most numerous and most warlike of all the tribes in the Connecticut area. The name of Sassacus, their chief sachem, was enough to excite the fear, if not to compel the submission, of every Indian in Connecticut. Sassacus had twenty-six sachems under him. Their principal fort was on an eminence overlooking the surrounding land and water not far from Fort Griswold. A second fort was eastward on the Mystic river.
The Pequot War was fought in 1637. It involved the Pequot Indians and the settlers of the Pilgrim Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Pequot were a powerful tribe, their only serious rival the Narragansett. This war was the culmination of numerous conflicts between the colonists and the Indians. There were disputes over property, livestock damaging Indian crops, hunting, the selling of alcohol to Indians, and dishonest traders. Besides these, the Colonists believed that they had a God given right to settle this New World. They saw the Indian as savages who needed to be converted to their way of God. Unfortunately, the colonists felt superior to all Indians even those who became Christian. The Indian was in a difficult situation. He constantly suffered at the hands of the colonists, yet at the same time was growing more dependent on the Colonists trade goods. The Indians were also disturbed at the encroachment of their lands by the colonies.
Two events weakened the Pequots prior to their war with the English. In 1631 the tribe was divided into pro-English and pro-Dutch factions. This problem was not solved when the tribes leader, Wopigwooit (14th great grandfather), was killed by the Dutch in that year. Two sub-sachems, Sassacus who was pro-Dutch and Uncas who was pro-English and related to Sassucus by blood and marriage, fought to succeed as the grand sachem. The tribe picked Sassacus. Uncas and his followers continued to quarrel with the pro-Dutch group. Eventually, Uncas and his followers fled to form their own tribe, the Mohegan. The Mohegan became hostile to the Pequots.
The second event that weakened the Pequots was the smallpox epidemic which they suffered in 1633-34. The separation of the Mohegan and the smallpox cost the Pequots almost half of their people.
The suffering of the Indians reached a breaking point on July 20, 1636. On that date, the Pequot's killed a dishonest trader, John Oldham. Many settlers demanded that the Pequot's be punished for this transgression. Massachusetts raised a military force under the command of John Endicott. This troop of 90 men landed on Block Island and killed 14 Indians before they burned the village and crops.
Endicott then sailed to Saybrook where they demanded tribute from the Pequot village there. This was the first indication Connecticut had that the Massachusetts Bay Colony was fighting the Pequots. The Pequots managed to flee their village at the approach of the Massachusetts troops who then burned their village. Endicott then left, leaving the Connecticut troops at Fort Saybrook to feel the wrath of the Pequots, who attacked anyone trying to leave the fort.
That winter Pequot sent war belts to many surrounding tribes Both the Narragansett and the Mohegan refused to side with the Pequots. This was due to past aggressions by the Pequots and to the influence of Roger Williams. While the Narragansett, and many smaller tribes, remained netural, the Mohegan sided with the English and fought the Pequots.
On May 26, 1637, a military force under John Mason and John Underhill, attacked the Pequot village located near New Haven, Conn. The village was destroyed and over 500 Indians killed. The Pequot leader, Sassacus, was captured on July 28 and executed by the Mohawks, a tribe that fought on the side of the English. Those who survived the massacre were enslaved, with some forced to become household servants of the Puritan English. More were sent to the West Indies, and others to the Mohegan and Narragansett, enemies of the Pequot who had allied themselves with the English colonies. A few Pequot managed to return or survive in their traditional homeland, as marginal inhabitants of a once populous, politically powerful territory.
By the time of the 1910 US Census, only 13 tribal members remained on the reservation. In 1973, Elizabeth George (?–1973) died on the 214-acre tract of forest reservation land. Her death left no one from the tribe remaining on the land, and the federal government started the process to reclaim it. In 1975 Richard Arthur Hayward became the tribal chairman. He worked to gain federal recognition for the tribe. The tribe achieved political success by working with Congress and its committees on making their case for recognition.
The Mashantucket Pequot, like many other Native American tribes, decided to use gambling as a revenue generator. In 1992, the Mashantucket Pequot opened their resort casino called Foxwoods. One of the largest casinos in the world, it has become one of the most successful. Not only does it provide jobs for tribal members, but its revenues have enabled the tribe to invest in other community development, such as their adjacent museum.
