Black James Explained

Black James (before 1640-circa 1686) (also known as Wullumahchein) was a Nipmuc constable and spiritual leader of the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck at the Chaubunagungamaug Reservation in colonial Massachusetts and Connecticut. Daniel Gookin appointed James to be a constable for the praying towns after he had become a Christian. In 1675, James signed a treaty agreeing not to assist King Philip, but may have supported him during King Philip's War. After the War, Black James deeded various parcels of land to settlers in Nipmuc country including at Manchaug (present day Oxford, Massachusetts),[1] Quantisset and Maanexit in what is now eastern Connecticut near Rhode Island.[2] [3] His dying speech was recorded by Rev. Daniel Takawambait and later published[4] [5] and by 1686 a deed was signed by his heirs indicating that Black James was deceased, but another Indian used the name "Black James" until 1708.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Oxford." 1983. Available at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhchpp/TownSurveyRpts.htm. Accessed 7/6/2024.
  2. Web site: Wullumahchein Native Northeast Portal. 2021-06-24. nativenortheastportal.com.
  3. Connole, The Indians of the Nipmuck Country in Southern New England, 111, 162, 164, 236
  4. "The Dying speeches of several Indians. Eliot, John, 1604-1690, tr" https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/n00266.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
  5. Craig White, "The Praying Indians' Speeches as Texts of Massachusett Oral Culture," Early American Literature, Vol. 38, No. 3 (2003), p. 457 accessible on JSTOR
  6. "Summary under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians: Prepared in response to a petition submitted to the Secretary of the Interior for Federal Acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian tribe" (2001)p. 34 (citing Reese 1980, p. 28) https://www.bia.gov/sites/bia.gov/files/assets/as-ia/ofa/petition/069B_wbdnip_MA/069b_pf.pdf

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