Miantonomoh

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Miantonomoh (1565?-1643), chief of the Narraganset tribe of North American Indians, nephew of their grand sachem, Canonicus (d. 1647). He seems to have been friendly to the English colonists of Massachusetts and Connecticut, though he was accused of being treacherous. In 1636, when under suspicion, he went to Boston to prove his loyalty to the colonists. In the following year he permitted John Mason to lead his Connecticut expedition against the Pequot Indians through the Narraganset country, and in 1638 he signed for the Narraganset the tripartite treaty between that tribe, the Connecticut colonists and the Mohegan Indians, which provided for a perpetual peace between the parties, and he agreed to take under his jurisdiction eighty of the two hundred troublesome Pequot.

In 1642 one of his chiefs was attacked by the Mohican chief Uncas. To avenge the insult, Miantonomoh made war on Uncas with nearly 1,000 warriors, but was defeated and taken prisoner. Uncas took him to Hartford, Connecticut and was turned over to the Connecticut authorities, and was later tried at Boston by the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. A committee of five clergymen, to whom his case was referred, recommended that he be executed, and the commissioners accordingly sentenced him to death and chose Uncas as his executioner. Though Miantonomoh had made war with their consent, they advised that he should be killed. He was then taken back to Norwich, where he had been defeated, and killed by Uncas with a tomahawk (1643).

In 1643 a quarrel broke out between the Mohegan and the Narraganset, and Miantonomoh led his warriors against those of Uncas, the Mohegan sachem. He was defeated and captured at what is now Norwich, Conn., was turned over to the Connecticut authorities, and was later tried at Boston by the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. A committee of five clergymen, to whom his case was referred, recommended that he be executed, and the commissioners accordingly sentenced him to death and chose Uncas as his executioner. Miantonomoh, who was kept in ignorance of this sentence, was taken to the scene of his defeat and was there tomahawked in cold blood by Wawequa, the brother of Uncas. There is a monument to Miantonomo in Sachem's Park, Norwich, Connecticut.

Four ships in the United States Navy have been named for him, two as Miantonomoh and two as Miantonomah.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.