Askamaboo
Born
Wampanoag territory, Nantucket, Massachusetts colony
NationalityWampanoag
TitleSachem
SpouseSpotso[1]
ChildrenDaniel Spatssoo[2]

Askamaboo also spelled Askamapoo or Askommopoo was a female Wampanoag sachem (also known as a paramount chief), whose territory was on the island Nantucket.[1][3] She acted as sachem during the late 17th century.[4]

Life

The Wampanoag were semisedentary and lived between fixed sites, moving seasonally within eastern Massachusetts and the islands.[5] Askamaboo was one of several women to earn the title of sachem, typically achieved through matrilineal property amassed or as a widow to a deceased sachem.[6] Askamaboo's family had amassed a large amount of land on Nantucket.[1]

Askamaboo was the daughter of the Sachem Nickanoose and his first, highest ranking wife.[2][1] Nickanoose gave her hand in marriage to Nantucket sachem Spotso with whom she had her son Daniel.[1] Nickanoose transferred all of his property to his daughter, an exchange with lasting legal documents and witnessed by the Chappaquiddick sachem Pakeponessoo, and a second Wampanoag named Papumahchohoo. The written will was dated to August 18, 1660 by the Nantucket Historical Association.[4]

Though she recognized the importance of literacy, she herself was not literate–the Massachusetts Historical Society has a letter transferring her power of attorney to her son, Daniel Spatssoo, which she needed to have transcribed.[2] Her son would go on to become another sachem after her.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Elizabeth Alden Little (2010). Elizabeth S. Chilton; Mary Lynne Rainey (eds.). Nantucket and Other Native Places: The Legacy of Elizabeth Alden Little. State University of New York Press, Albany. ISBN 978-1-4384-3253-3.
  2. 1 2 3 Mifflin, Jeffrey (2009). "'Closing the Circle': Native American Writings in Colonial New England, a Documentary Nexus between Acculturation and Cultural Preservation". The American Archivist. 72 (2): 344–382. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  3. ↑ R.A Douglas-Lithgow, M.D., L.L.D. (1911). The Nantucket Indians. Nantucket, MA: Inquirer and Mirror Press. pp. 30–33. ISBN 978-1161674255.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 "Deed in which Nickanoose gave land to his daughter, Askamapoo". Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "Wampanoag". Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Our Native American's in 1620 Massachusettes". Retrieved August 17, 2023.
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