Askamaboo
Askamaboo | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Title | Sunksqua |
| Spouse | Spotso[1] |
| Children | Daniel Spatssoo[2] |
Askamaboo also spelled Askamapoo or Askommopoo was a Wampanoag Sunksqua, whose territory was on the island Nantucket.[1][3] She ruled during the late 17th century.[4]
Life
[edit]The Wampanoag were semisedentary and lived between fixed sites, moving seasonally within eastern Massachusetts and the islands.[5] Askamaboo was one of many women to become a Sunksqua, typically achieved through property amassed, being the eldest female in line of succession without any brothers or as a widow to a deceased Sachem.[6] Askamaboo's family had gained 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's daughter inherited all of his property, an inheritance with lasting legal documentation and witnessed by the Chappaquiddick Sachem Pakeponessoo, and a second Wampanoag named Papumahchohoo. The 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 Sachem after her.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ 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}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Deed in which Nickanoose gave land to his daughter, Askamapoo". Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "Wampanoag". Retrieved August 17, 2023.
- ^ "Our Native American's in 1620 Massachusettes". Retrieved August 17, 2023.
