It was a time of great grief among the Massachusett people.
~ Massachusetttribe.org
”The Europeans Arrive
With the arrival of European explorers, traders, and colonists to the area in the 17th century, the Massachusett were plagued by outbreaks of lethal diseases brought by Europeans, including yellow fever and smallpox. The massive population loss that resulted altered the tribe’s ability to defend their land and resources. This changed the balance of power in the region, opening the Massachusett to attacks and raids by other tribes.
The English began to arrive in large numbers during a period known at the Puritan Great Migration, with twenty thousand immigrating between 1620 and 1640. In the mid 17th century, these colonists laid claim to the Massachusetts’ indigenous planting fields, quarries, and water access and drove what remained of the tribe to a plantation called Ponkapoag, south of the Blue Hills. Despite everything, the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag are still living here. They are the descendants of Chickataubut’s Band of the Massachusett at Neponset.
Image courtesy of The Massachusetts Tribe of Ponkapoag
On December 7, 1657, the town of Dorchester laid out a plantation at Ponkapoag, required the Massachusett to relocate there. By doing this, they forced the tribe to abandon their native lands and culture.
We against all odds have survived as the descendants of the first people of Massachusetts. We continue to survive as Massachusett people because we have retained the oral tradition of storytelling just as our ancestors did. This tradition passes on the Massachusett view of how our world works, our relationship with all of nature and why things are the way they are.
~ The Massachusett Tribe of Ponkapoag
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