Ninigret

Ninigret (1610-1677) was the chief (sachem) of the eastern Niantic people. Ninigret grew up in the home of a chief. His education included common practices like learning how to hunt and be a warrior. He also did a vision quest. He learned how to become a chief. In the Pequot War, he allied with colonists and the Narragansetts. They fought against the Pequot. Ninigret helped keep the Niantic people out of King Philip's War.^[1] Ninigret wanted to protect Native peoples and wanted that they keep their independence.^[2] He created allies with the distant Mohawks and Pocumtucks to slow down English colonists. Ninigret was important in balancing powers in New England. Colonists often accused Ninigret of plotting against colonists. Ninigret's symbol was the war club. Ninigret signed many documents with English colonists. He would use this symbol as his signature.^[3]

Ninigret in 1681

References

1. Frederic Denison, Westerly (Rhode Island) and Its Witnesses: For Two Hundred and Fifty Years, 1626-1876: Including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond Until Their Separate Organization, with the Principal Points of Their Subsequent History, (J.A. & R.A. Reid, Providence: 1878), pg.22
2. "Ninigret sachem of the Niantic tribe · Native Americans Then and Now · Nabb Research Center Online Exhibits". libapps.salisbury.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
3. Fisher, Julie A., and David J. Silverman. Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narrangansetts: Diplomacy, War, and the Balance of Power in Seventeenth-Century New England and Indian Country. Cornell University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt5hh17c.