July, 2010 Summer Institute Workshop
Danvers Historical Society, Danvers, Mass.

Documents for the Who Was here First? Seventeenth Century Native People's Presence in Essex County (.pdf) Lesson

The study of native peoples of what is today termed Essex County is a hard task. Many of the people who settled and lived in this area were struck by disease shortly before the first permanent settlement of Europeans and while there are accounts of them from the whites,those accounts cannot tell the whole story.This lesson is meant to be used as a way to enable students to begin to think about how native people lived in this region, who some of their leaders were and to get them to formulate their own questions in a line of inquiry about those people from long ago .

Images of Primary Sources ...from the Haverhill Historical Society, Haverhill, Mass.

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• Images of Native American Artifacts
• Artifacts presently on display range in age from 8,000 years old to the present. These artifacts include a mortar and pestle, hammerstone, channel gouges, spear & dart points, plummets, mallet heads and stone scrapers. The originals can be found at the Haverhill Historical Society.

Images of Primary Sources ...from the Danvers Historical Society, Danvers, Mass.

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• Images of Native American Artifacts
• Artifacts here show a range of tools useful to natives in their everyday lives. These artifacts include a plumb bob used to weight fishing lines, an axe head dating to 4,000 B.P. a polished stone mallet head, a gouge used to carve wood, and a mortar used for grinding. The Historical Society owns a large quatity of pottery shards as well.

Images of Primary Sources ...from the Hawthorne In Salem website

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• Early Massachusetts Bay Colony Seal
• This seal in many ways shows the European view of natives. They are depicted with leaves covering them and asking for help. you may also wish to view other images of Indians on the Hawthorne in Salem site and on the Southern Essex County Deeds site (see list below)

Excerpts from Town Histories ...

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• Excerpt on "Indians" from A History of Andover, MA (1829)
• In the early 19th century, many New England towns published histories. This selection describes the native populations of the Andover area from that point of view. It is rich in description but from the point of view of European settlers.

Secondary Documents...

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• Reference Sheets for Images of Native People
• Photographs of Native American interpreters from Plimoth Plantation - taken by Rebecca Zimmerman, 2009

Documents ...from internet sites

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• Map of New England (1677) from the Plymouth Colony Archive Site
• Created by William Hubbard & John Foster
  "This bold woodcut map of New England, regarded by its makers and acknowledged as the first ever to be engraved and printed in America, appeared in William Hubbard's Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England, from the First Planting Thereof in the Year 1607, to the Present Year 1677." in New England Begins: The Seventeenth Century, by Jonathan Fairbanks and Robert Trent. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (1982)

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• Map of Native American Tribal Lands and Communities (1620)
• Composed by Sidney Perley - this map can be accessed through Rootsweb at ancestry.com - click on title above

...Web links for Related Subjects - (web links current as of March 2011)

Thoughts on Indian Images, Names and Respect-- Commentary on use of various terminology involving native peoples. Marge Bruchac discusses the subject in a very thorough way - looking at the terms, Indian, Squaw and various place names.

"The Day's Round," from Indian New England Before the Mayflower --p. 104 - 108, by Howard S. Russell . This chapter is a description of a January day in the life of a Native American family. It is a rich resource for children to begin to viualize both the environment and the tasks of family members.

The New England Indians by C. Keith Wilbur. This book seeks to provide a detailed look at everyday life including dress, tools and shelter. It is filled with line drawings of actual artifacts and is a useful visual tool. Also see Indian Handcrafts by the same author. That book has detailed descriptions of many topics including; Atlatls, arrow points, pump drills and canoe construction

Changes in the Land -- by William Cronon. This book is a discussion of how the plants and animal communities changed as Europeans came into an area previously used solely by Native Americans.

Cobblestone magazine ; Indians of the Northeast (November, 1994). This edition of the magazine discusses the Northeast tribes - good article on wampum - unfortunately it seems to be out of print.

Robert S. Peabody Museum, Andover, MA--This museum's collection contains about 500,000 objects that represent nearly every indigenous culture area in North America. They are especially strong in the native American culutres that are represented in Essex County. They have a wonderful education program and were very generous with their time and expertise in discussing the artifacts left by natives in this area.

We Shall Remain - After the Mayflower This award winning PBS series highlights the native history in what is today the United States. The first episode is especially os note as it will help students place certain native people geographically and visually. Parts of this episode were filmed in Salem. There is an excellent teachers' guide available as well as the episodes for live streaming.Lots of great info!

Sounthern Essex Co Indian Deeds-- Website containing images, maps, an excellent timeline, as well as transcripts of the original deeds used by Europeans to claim land in Essex County.

Hawthorne in Salem - Native Americans--This page provides links to many Essex County primary documents including; deeds and records, illustrations and maps - of particular note is Hawthorne's account of the Hannah Dustin massacre in Haverhill

Mass Moments --relevant topics include;June 24, 1675 - King Phillip's War Breaks Out

Indian Place Names and Map --Part of the Plymouth Colony website - this page gives a brief discussion of the meaning of some of the common place names in present-day Massachusetts as well as providing a map of approximate places.

Massachusett section of Menotomy Journal -includes timeline and biographies of key Massachusett leaders - see info on Nanapashemet and the Squaw Sachem especially

Wikipedia - Nanpashemet --Nanepashemet (died 1619) was the leader, or Great Sachem, of the Pawtucket Confederation of Indian tribes before the landing of the Pilgrims. He ruled over a large part of what is now Northeastern Massachusetts. This entry not only gives the reader information about this great man, but also the vast area he ruled and the people he led.

Wikipedia - Naumkeag people --The Naumkeag people lived primarily in the area around what is today Salem, MA.

Description of Rumney Marsh Indians-- From an early history of Revere, this source gives a detailed physical description native people who also lived in and around present day Haverhill.

Walking Tour of Plimoth Plantation --*****Suitable for student use**** This tour has relatively few words and great photos of both the recreation of the European and Native American settlements at Plimoth.

Native tech - Scenes from the Eastern Woodlands --This website offers information about everyday activities; including building a wigwam, catching fish, making tools, etc.

Native Peoples in New England --This webpage from Historic Deerfield looks at the native people who inhabited much of what is today New England. It is part of a set of lessons. Of particular note is the extensive bibliography offered here.