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The Nauset people, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians, were a Native American tribe who lived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They lived east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbors, the Wampanoag people.
Although the Nauset were a distinct tribe from the Wampanoag, they often deferred to the authority of the Wampanoag chief sachem, and shared with the Wampanoag many similar aspects of culture, agricultural practices, and a common tongue, the Massachusett language.
The tribe was one of the first to be visited by European explorers and colonists, who abducted some tribal members to sell into slavery in Spain and introduced diseases which reduced the Nauset population even before colonization of New England began on a large scale.
The Pilgrims' first contact with the Nauset was during the Mayflower's landing in November, 1620 near present-day Provincetown, when they discovered a deserted village, the Nauset being away at their winter hunting grounds. Desperately low on supplies, the Pilgrims stole a cache of maize, though they left a note (in English language) promising to pay for what they had stolen. The promise was eventually kept when the Nauset, led by Aspinet, returned months later. The Nauset also returned a small boy who had wandered away from the colony and become lost, an act which greatly improved relations with nearby colonists.Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America.
In subsequent years, the Nauset became the colonists' closest allies. Most became Christianization and aided the colonists as scouts and warriors against the Wampanoag during King Philip's War. Their numbers, always small, were further reduced. They intermarried with neighboring tribes and settlers after King Philip's War.
In the summer of 1605 when they were visited by Champlain, clothing consisted of leather Loincloth for both men and women, at times grass or hemp dogbane tunics, and open-front skin wraps for women. Both genders decorated their skins with black, yellow, and red pigments, and plaited or twisted their hair, decorating it with shell beads. Men plucked their beards, and cut the hair on top of their head short, leaving the rest long.
Lifeways
Living along the Atlantic Ocean, the Nauset relied heavily on seafood, but also impressed European explorers with the productivity of their Slash-and-burn based on the "three sisters" of maize, beans, squash, as well as Jerusalem artichokes, tobacco and silviculture of mast trees. They consumed maize boiled whole in earthen pots, or prepared a maize flour with mortar and pestle which was then made into corn cakes. During the autumn, they hunted wild turkey using bows and arrows tipped with the spines of Horseshoe crab and Fletching with turkey feathers. They also armed themselves with clubs and spears for defense.
Legacy
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