Weetamoo

Weetamoo (c. 1635–1676), also referred to as Weetamoe, was a Pocasset Wampanoag Native American noblewoman who was born in the Mattapoiset village of the Pokanoket and died at Taunton River. Her father was Corbitant, sachem of the Pocasset tribe in present day North Tiverton, Rhode Island, c. 1618–1630. She had five husbands, the most famous of whom was Wamsutta, the eldest son of Massasoit, grand sachem of the Wampanoag and participant in the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. Her name means "Sweet Heart".

Weetamoo's husbands

Weetamoo was married five times in a life filled with adventure and ultimately tragedy.

• Winnepurket, sachem of Saugus, Massachusetts, was the first. He died shortly after their marriage.

• Wamsutta was second. After Massasoit died, Wamsutta became Chief of the Wampanoag. The tribe allied with the English against the Narragansett, but the English broke this treaty. Wamsutta became sick and died during talks with the English. Believing that the English were somehow responsible for his death, Weetamoo and her brother-in-law, Metacomet— Wamsutta's younger brother and husband of Weetamoo's younger sister Wootonekanuske — attacked the English in June 1675. This began the conflict now known as King Philip's War. . Weetamoo is speculated to have had one child with Wamsutta, although the date of birth and name are unknown.

• Quequequanachet was third. Little is known of him.

• Petonowit was fourth. At the beginning of King Phillip's war he sided with the English, prompting Weetamoo to leave their marriage.

• Quinnapin was last, grandson of powerful Narragansett sachem Canonicus. He was described as "a handsome warrior". This seemed to be a strong marriage. The pair had at least one child together, who died in 1676.

Eventually, the English defeated the Wampanoag in August 1676. Weetamoo drowned in the Taunton River trying to escape. Her dead body was mutilated, and her head was displayed on a pole in Taunton, MA, amidst much weeping by her warriors.

Weetamoo's legacy

Weetamoo's adolescent life was made into a children's historical novel in The Royal Diaries series entitled Weetamoo, Heart of the Pocasetts: Rhode Island-Massachusetts, 1653.

Weetamoo also appears in print in Mary Rowlandson's The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson, who was captured 1676 and held by Weetamoo's relative Quinnapin for three months, considered Weetamoo a "proud hussy" and often complained of her strict control, . She leaves a vivid description of Weetamoo's appearance as well as personality:

"A severe and proud dame she was, bestowing every day in dressing herself neat as much time as any of the gentry of the land: powdering her hair, and painting her face, going with necklaces, with jewels in her ears, and bracelets upon her hands. When she had dressed herself, her work was to make girdles of wampum and beads."

Bibliography

• http://royalwomen.tripod.com/id7.html
• http://www.scholastic.com/dearamerica/parentteacher/guides/royaldiaries/weetamoo.htm
• http://www.shmoop.com/new-england-puritans-pilgrims/weetamoo.html
• http://www.meyna.com/wetamoo.html