Researched Meaning of Some Local Native American Names ...

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy HistoricalI Society

No.

Researched Meaning of Some Local Native American Names:

-

Squantum, Moswetusett, Mattachuset,

Massachusetts, Neponset, Chickataubut

By George R. .Horner*

Introduction

The orthography of seventeenth century Native American places and persons was written according to the recorder's interpretation of the spoken sound of a word. The manner in which the word or utterance was written might be influenced by the particular English or European background of the recorder. Names, even English proper names, were spelled phonetically by the recorder. For Native American names, this was the only manner in which this could have been done. Because of the resultant lack of consistence of the spelling and pronunciation of such words, there is a need to further explore and explain the original meaning and possible changes of meaning of Native American

names. We will here examine six names associated with the Quincy area.

Spellings in the early records are of particular interest. Two involving the subject names are noted.

"Boston in New-England March 12, 163011.

...Sachem in New England whom I saw last summer upon the river Naponsett, near the Mattachusetts fields, dwelleth Chicka-Talbot, who hath

*Dr. Horner, long archeologist of the Quincy Historical Society, is an authority of the Native Americans of the South Shore area, and has studied their language. His work has contributed much to our understanding of the early people here. This paper copyrighted 1989 by George R. Horner is published hy permission.

Oberq photo

Unchanged since the time when it was the seat of the Indians from whom the name of the Commonwealthwas derived, Moswetuset Hummock is the oldest recognized historic site in Massachusetts.

between fifty a n d sixty

subjects..."l

In 1632, one year after the above letter was written, Roger Ludlow former Deputy-Governorof the Bay Colony was deeded one hundred acres of land "betwixt Musquantum Chappell and the mouth of the Naponsett River."2 (Ludlow's Neck is now New Squantum.)

The names Moswetusett, Mattachusett, Massachusetts, Neponset and Chickataubut are Algonquian terms, each composed of t h r e e distinct w o r d s a n d meanings, but which when spoken, sound like a single word. They were never written down by the Algonquian speakers.

The Six Names S q u a n t u m is derived from

Musquantum, a place of awesome significance now known a s Squantum Head and Chapel Rocks. In 1635 the prefix "Mu" was dropped, at leastfrom the recording of the land deeds and, with few exceptions, "Squantum" became the generally accepted term for the entire peninsula.3

A very early Algonquian-speaking Native American people who lived o n Squantum told stories of a most awesome malelfemale spirit named Musquantum. It was said that the male named Musquot dropped the rocks that formed the dwelling place (the chapel) for his wife Squanit, a s

continued on page 2

Page 2-QU1 NCY HlSTC

aquantum, moswetusett, Mattachuset,

Massachusetts, Neponset, Chickataubut

continuedfrom page I

well a s one rock which is said to be

in her likeness. Tales of these two

~carypersonages continue to be

old to Indian children living in

'outhern New England.4

Moswetusett, or better

Jlusw6tuset, is made up of three

vords: Mus from musquot meaning

~wesome and powerful; wetu

meaning wigwam or house; and et

meaning place or area. Thus,

muswetuset was the house or seat

,f government where the Sachem

Zhickataubut lived.5

Mattachusetts fields, the Native

jmerican planting grounds, are

nentioned in the merchants letter.

his has been altered to the

Aassachusetts Fields of present

day usage. In 1630the area probably

extended along Quincy Bay from

the Neponset River to Broad

Meadows and Town River, and

including Merrymount, Wollaston

and Montclair.

Matta is a negative expression

:hat denotes a positive quality or

act. Achu or better adchu means

;tone or rock. Et means place or

ocation.

Mattadchuset

lescribes

where there are

ew or no srones or rocks, a suitable

)lace for planting fields. From time

o time Native American farming

001s have been uncovered in this

irea.

Massachusetts has a meaning

quite different from Mattachuset.

Wass denotes a large quantity or

;ize, achu or adchu means rock or

;tone, and et means place or area.

Simplified the name means "the big

.ock area". J . Hammond Trumbull,

he outstanding linguist on New

Zngland Indian languages in the

.9th century concluded that "There

:an be, I think, no reasonable doubt

hat Massachusetts designated a

ocality at or near a 'great hill7 or

great hills' and that the Indians

hereabouts were called 'people of

h e great hill ( o r hills)

'Massachus6uc k', and by the

English 'Massachuset ts'."6

It is to be noted that the Native

Americans used the Blue Hills a s a

s o u r c e of s t o n e for their

implements. Thus it is possible that

they called the area "Massadchu-

set" not solely because of its rocky

character, but in addition because

of the culturally useful rock for

which it was known.

1707 Josiah Cotton translated

.....

# s a c h u s e tt o or "big hill

mean "arrow head in the form of an

w head" .7 (The same me;

been suggested for Mas(

) O n this Trumbull comn

~ uthtere is n-or& -and here I speaK

positively- any element in the

name itself that can possibly signify

'arrowhead' or in the 'form of an

arrowhead' or can have any

reference to an arrow, or to its head

or its shape in the Massachusetts

dialect or in any other known

Algonkin language." Yet after one

hundred years, Mr. Cotton's error

still appears on occasion.

Neponset was originally spelled

Naponsett which must be basis for

determining its meaning. Naponsett

is the spelling in the 1630 letter and

other early historical documents.8

N a is a demonstrative particle

meaning "there, that is the place";

pon denotes a fording or w;iding

place; and et or ett again mleans

l'ocation. Naponsett would thus

mean "There, where there is the

cro:;sing". This location was

probably the Lower Falls at

Dorchester, and the river and the

area took their name from this place

. of great importance to the Native

Americans and latter the English.

Beginning about 1686, the

spelling of the name in historical

documents changed from

Naponsett to Neponsett.9 This may

have been through error, or it may

have reflected the way in which the

English were then pronouncing the

name. A correction or change in

meaning seems unlikely since the

meaning of +pun means "late

summer".

Chicka-Talbot is the Sachem

mentioned in the merchant's letter.

Although various spellings of this

man's name exist, we best

recognize his name spelled

Chickataubut o r Chickatabot. Thc

prefix chicka is derived from ch&kl

meaning "slow and deliberate"

while talbot or taubut is probabl!

derived from taupu meaning "sell

sufficient and capable". Thi:

describes Chgketauput as i

thoughtful and deliberate person

not one who made snal

judgements, and a capable leader

In 1674, Daniel Gookin

Commissioner of the Bay Colon!

(Massachusetts) Indians, recallec

him "as a wise and stout man, but i

very vitious (vicious)person!"lO Thc

origin of the belief that the name o

this Sachem meant "house afire" is

unknown.

A short history

zople who

gave us the above

a s part of

our heritage is pertinent.

Some 1500 years ago, Native

Americans family groups lived in

seasonal fishing, farming and

hunting villages extending from the

mouth of the Neponset River valley

to the Blue Hills. Similar family

groups lived along the Monatiquot

River valley and its tributaries, to

the Blue Hills. (The name

Monatiquot or Mo-natic-ot means

"the river of many villages". These

two river systems formed a semi-

circle around the Blue Hills. Not

only were there settlements within

this circumference but significantly,

numerous quarries. These

quarries supplied the varieties of

stone required by these semi-settled

people.'2

In the early 1620s, Chickataubut,

Sachem of the Massachusetts,

moved from Passonageset, in the

area of Merrymount, Quincy Shorc

Drive and Sea Street, with abou

sixty of his followers who ha(

survived the 1618 plague tc

Moswetuset Hummock. The movc

was from the south end of thc

Massachusetts Fields to the nortl

end near Musquantum. He may well

have felt that the sacredness of this

place would reinforce his claims to

religious power i

s political

power as Sacher

Shortly after

ataubut's

continw

Fall, 1989-QUiNCY HISTORY-Page 3

Squantum, Moswetusett, Mattachuset,

Massachusetts, Neponset, Chickataubut

continued from page 2

move to Moswetuset Hummock and the Naponsett river, his son Josiah Chickataubut, a.k.a. Wampatuck was born. The senior Chickataubut died in November of 1633 of small pox.13 Wampatuck was raised by his uncle Kutchamakin of Unquisset (Milton). Upon reaching his majority, Wamputuck became Sachem of the Massachusetts, succeeding his father. At the time it was almost a n empty title. Even before Wampatuck's birth, the Narragansetts from Rhode Island had occupied and controlled - the intervening lands to the Neponset River. Joining with related families including those from the Harbor Islands and others from the Naponset/Monatiquot rivers area, Wampatuck formed the Massadchus8uck Federation. Its goal was to force the Narragansetts back to their Rhode Island homeland.I4The Federation was successful in this operation. Wampatuck died on August 19, 1669, the day after his attack on Caughnawaga, near Fonda, New York, a fortified village of the Mohawks who were t h r e a t e n i n g a n invasion of Massachusetts.~5By this time the Federation controlled most of

southeastern Massachusetts. The names that we have inherited

from these early local people are still with us. When the meaning of the names of the places and persons is understood, it not only enhances this heritage but also gives us some insight into where and how those Native Americans lived.

NOTES Three articles below are relevant to the subject of this paper.

Cameron. J a m e s R., "Seat of Chickatabot Moswetuset or Massachusetts Hummock". N t ~ w s k t t r r ,Quincy Histor~c-a1Soc.iotv. Ptrc~cM>. P'>vcslc E d ~ t o rU. nivc.rsity of Nrw Mr.\- ,, Press. 1985.

12. Bowni,ln. Willlam nc7i.t.oli. Gcardld, " D ~ s : - o ~ ~ c, 1,, r ~ a New Major Itthic Source,". Rrrllc~t~rMi. ns.;rrt litis(,..Archt~o/ogr,iI! Soc.i~~tVu.al 38, No. 3 , April l e ) 7 i ,~ , I . J I , 34~ 4 7 .

13 W i n t h ~ o pJ. o h n . Hisror.~ Nvu. Englcrrici, i 1 ', 1649.J a m e s S,i\age Editor. Boston. 1825.VoI. I. pclqv :f.n.3.

14. Collc~ctio~oifs tht, R h o t l ~ ~ I s l t r r ~ d H ~ s:t ioSro~(c,(,.: Providence. Vc~i 111. 1835.p,jges2 4 , ",ion;lsiJosi,>h~I-r '. of Chicatahat 'ind Cuchc,mdk~ncifrc~rw~lrdsus l~rnt:~c,ti thrmselvc.~ to ( t h e ) M ~ ~ ~ s a c h u s eftotr~t,ht, c8?cprt,;.,purpose of pr~)trc.tion dyain.;t !he powc3: (I: . l i t . Narragansett? '.

15. Gookin. D ................
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