Native nations & living voices
Ousamequin (Massasoit)
c. 1581–1661
Massachusetts connection
Pokanoket Wampanoag homelands; Plymouth relationships
Ousamequin was a Wampanoag sachem, or leader. In 1621 he made an alliance with Plymouth’s English colonists to help protect his people. His decisions belonged to a Native political world with its own nations and relationships. “Massasoit” is the title by which many English sources remember him.
You can use your device’s reading tools or read with a partner.
Your turn, historian
Find a detail. Build an idea.
- What did this person or group do? Point to a detail in the reading.
- How did this person care for a community, its rights, or its knowledge?
- What would you like to find out next? Which kind of source could help?
“Ousamequin (Massasoit) mattered because ___. A detail that supports my idea is ___.”
Follow the evidence.
This short reading is an original classroom summary. Open the source with your teacher to check details and learn more.
Read the source: Plimoth Patuxet Museums ↗Ask: Who made this source? What can it tell us? What might it leave out?