Pennacook Tribe

Pennacook Indians (cognate with Abnaki pěnâ-kuk, or penankuk, ‘at the bottom of the of hill or highland.’ Gerard). A confederacy of Algonquian tribes that occupied the basin of Merrimac river and the adjacent region in New Hampshire, northeast Massachusetts, and the extreme south part of Maine. They had an intermediate position between the southern New England tribes, with whom the English were most directly interested, and the Abnaki and others farther north, who were under French influence. Their alliances were generally with the northern tribes, and later with the French. It has been supposed that they were an offshoot of … Read more

Pocomtuc Tribe

Pocomtuc Indians, Deerfield Indians. A tribe formerly living on Deerfield and Connecticut rivers, in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Their principal village, of the same name, was near the present Deerfield, and they were frequently known as Deerfield Indians. They had a fort on Fort Dill in the same vicinity, which was destroyed by the Mohawk after a hard battle in 1666. They were an important tribe, and seem to have ruled overall the other Indians of the Connecticut Valley within the limits of Massachusetts, including those at Agawam, Nonotue, and Squawkeag. They combined with the Narraganset and Tunxis in the attacks … Read more