The Pokanoket tribe is the headship tribe of the many tribes that make up the Wampanoag Nation, which was at times referred to as the Pokanoket Nation or the Pokanoket Confederacy or known as the Pokanoket Country. Each tribe of the Wampanoag Nation was composed of bands and villages.

The realm of the Pokanoket was extensive and known to the Pilgrims before they arrived at Plymouth on the Mayflower

Mayflower

The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...

in 1620. The leader of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, wrote of advice he had received before the Pilgrims sailed: “The Pokanokets, which live to the west of Plymouth, bear an inveterate malice to the English, and are of more strength than all the savages from there to Penobscot [in Maine]. Their desire of revenge was occasioned by an English man, who having many of them on board [a ship], made a great slaughter with their murderers and small shot, when (as they [the Pokanoket] say) they offered no injury on their part.” The place of Sowams, consisting of modern day Bristol, Barrington, and Warren, Rhode Island, was the main settlement of the Pokanoket when the Pilgrims arrived. Pauqu-un-auk-it means "Land at the clearing", and Bradford had been told that the land of the Pokanoket had “the richest soil, and much open ground fit for English grain, etc.”, giving hint of the conflicts over land that would soon develop.

The Pilgrims lost more than half of their people due to sickness and starvation over the first winter. The Pokanoket felt sympathy for the Pilgrims' plight and began to teach them how to plant crops and live in this country. Despite the fears initially felt by the Pilgrims, the Pokanoket quickly reached a pact of peace with the new settlers. Bradford referred to the Pokanoket leader as “their great Sachem, called Massasoit

Massasoit

Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...

”. It is not clear whether Bradford understood Massasoit to be a hereditary title rather than a name, and that confusion continued. When the Massasoit, whose name was Ousamequin, died, he was succeeded as Great Leader of the Pokanoket Nation by his sons, first by Wamsutta

Wamsutta

Wamsutta , also known as Alexander Pokanoket, as he was called by New England colonists, was the eldest son of Massasoit and a sachem of the Wampanoag native American tribe. His sale of Wampanoag lands to colonists other than those of the Plymouth Colony brought the Wampanoag considerable power,...

, who was perhaps poisoned, and then by Metacomet

Metacomet

Metacomet , also known as King Philip or Metacom, or occasionally Pometacom, was a war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in King Philip's War, a widespread Native American uprising against English colonists in New England.-Biography:Metacomet was the second son of Massasoit...

 (also known as King Philip), who was killed in the Great New England War of 1675–1676. Neither son was referred to by the European settlers as Massasoit. The sons however, were known as kings during their time as Massasoits of the Pokanoket. Ousamequin had made peace with King James I of Britain, reaffirmed later in 1636, in which Britain had agreed through Governor Carver that forevermore Ousamequin's sons and his line would carry the royal titles of Prince or Princess. Ousamequin's request that his sons receive "English" names in Plymouth was granted, and they were given the name Alexander for Wamsutta, and Philip for Metacomet. Although the settlers did not call the Pokanoket leaders by the title Massasoit after Ousamequin died, they did refer to them as Kings, and the Great New England War was called King Philip's War

King Philip's War

King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...

 by the settlers, named after Metacomet.

During this period, the Pokanoket first treatied with the English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 colonists of present-day Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Continued tensions and encroachment by English settlements led to the outbreak of fighting in King Philip's War in 1675. Mount Hope (Rhode Island)

Mount Hope (Rhode Island)

Mount Hope is a small hill in Bristol, Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount Hope Bay. The elevation of the summit is 209 feet, and drops sharply to the bay on its eastern side. Mount Hope was the site of a Wampanoag village...

 was the site of the royal seat of the Pokanoket people.

Pokanoket was the tribe of the Wampanoag Nation that had the "first Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims.

Pokanoket is also the name of the dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 of Massachusett

Massachusett

The Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...

 spoken among the Wampanoag.

List of Pokanoket Massasoits

Sachem	From	To
?????	15??	16??
Massasoit Massasoit Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...  Ousamequin	1581	1661
Massasoit Wamsutta Wamsutta Wamsutta , also known as Alexander Pokanoket, as he was called by New England colonists, was the eldest son of Massasoit and a sachem of the Wampanoag native American tribe. His sale of Wampanoag lands to colonists other than those of the Plymouth Colony brought the Wampanoag considerable power,...  aka Alexander	1660	1662
Massasoit Metacomet Metacomet Metacomet , also known as King Philip or Metacom, or occasionally Pometacom, was a war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in King Philip's War, a widespread Native American uprising against English colonists in New England.-Biography:Metacomet was the second son of Massasoit... aka Philip	1662	1676
?????	1676	16??

External links

• The Council of Seven, Official Pokanoket website