Pequot are a Native American tribe that lives mainly in eastern Connecticut. Once nearly wiped out by European settlers, the Pequot have become one of the wealthiest, most politically active Native American groups. Today, about 1,100 Pequot live in the United States.
In the past, the Pequot were a loosely organized group headed by leaders called sachems. The Pequot language is now extinct, but from the few isolated words that survive, scholars have determined that the tribe spoke an Algonquian language. The Pequot hunted, fished, and collected wild plants in addition to cultivating such crops as corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. In the early 1600’s, the Pequot were known for producing wampum, beads made from shells that were sometimes used as money (see Wampum ). European fur traders exchanged wampum obtained from the Pequot for furs gathered by inland tribes.
During the 1600’s, conflicts arose among the Pequot, neighboring indigenous (native) groups, and English Puritans, who had established towns along the coast and spread into the interior. In 1634, Native Americans killed some English traders. The killers were not Pequot, but Puritan officials demanded that the Pequot turn the men over to them. The Pequot did not do so. When some other Native Americans killed a trader in 1636, the English vowed to exterminate the Pequot and raided their villages. The Pequot responded with raids on English settlements.
In 1637, an English army, joined by warriors from the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes, attacked and burned the main Pequot village on the Mystic River in Connecticut. Hundreds of Pequot, including many women and children, were burned alive or killed trying to escape. This massacre marked the peak of what became known as The Pequot War. Many Pequot who were not killed were captured and sold into slavery. Some Pequot who survived joined neighboring tribes. Puritan leaders declared the tribe officially dissolved, and mention of the name Pequot was banned.
By 1650, a few Pequot began returning to their homeland, where the English later established several Indian towns. These communities enabled the Pequot to maintain a strong sense of identity even as their population declined over time. By the early 1900’s, fewer than 100 Pequot survived, living around a single small reservation, and the Pequot were not officially recognized as a Native American tribe by the United States government.
During the 1970’s, the few remaining Pequot began political and legal efforts to reclaim parts of their traditional homeland. In 1983, the Mashantucket branch of the Pequot gained federal recognition. They were then able to expand the size of the reservation and establish tribal housing and health services. In 1992, the Pequot opened the Foxwoods Resort Casino on the reservation. Profits from this casino have made the Pequot one of the wealthiest tribes in the United States. The Pequot have used some of the wealth to build a museum that houses tribal artifacts and recounts the history of the tribe.
See also Indian wars (The Pequot War (1637)) ; Mohegan .
