Block Island - Native History

Native History

The Niantic, whose tribe eventually merged with the Narragansett people, called the island "Manisses" which means "little island of Manitou". Archaeological sites indicate these people lived largely by hunting deer, catching fish and shellfish, and growing corn, beans, and squash. They migrated from forest to coastal areas to take advantage of seasonal resources. Artifacts found in the area suggest that American Indians inhabited the area as far back as 1300 BC. In 1662, natives on the island numbered somewhere from 1,200 to 1,500. By 1774, that number had been reduced to fifty-one.

Due to intrusions by the Pequot and Mohegan in the early 17th century, the Niantic were split into two divisions; the Western Niantic, who allied with the Pequot and Mohegan, and the Eastern Niantic, who allied with the Narragansett.

In 1634, Western Niantic defended their tribe by killing John Stone, a renegade Boston man, who was known for stealing Pilgrim vessels, near the mouth of the Connecticut River. Despite the fact the man was trying to kidnap native women and children to sell as slaves in Virginia, the colonists became furious (partly due to earlier Indian atrocities against settlers on the mainland by a related tribe) . The English demanded that the Pequot Indians (who spoke for the Western Niantic) surrender his killers. This was refused and began the slide towards war. In the summer of 1637, the Western Niantic killed another Boston man, the trader John Oldham, near Block Island.

Without consulting the Connecticut colonists, Massachusetts, in August, sent a punitive expedition of ninety men under John Endicott to Block Island with instructions to kill every Niantic warrior and capture the woman and children, who would be valuable as slaves. The expedition was ordered by Massachusetts Governor Henry Vane to "massacre all of the Native men on the island". The expedition killed fourteen Eastern Niantic and burned their village and crops. The English burned sixty wigwams and the corn fields. They also shot every dog, but the Niantic fled into the woods, and the soldiers only managed to kill fourteen of them. Deciding this punishment was insufficient, Endicott and his men sailed over to Fort Saybrook before going after the Pequot village at the mouth of the Thames River to demand one thousand fathoms of wampum to pay for the murder of John Oldham and some Pequot children as hostages to insure peace. This incident is seen as one of the initial events that led to the Pequot War.