Sachem

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Paramount chief of certain North American tribes

title: "Sachem" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["algonquian-peoples", "indigenous-peoples-of-the-northeastern-woodlands", "titles-and-offices-of-native-american-leaders", "tribal-chiefs"] description: "Paramount chief of certain North American tribes" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachem" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Paramount chief of certain North American tribes ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Sachem_Daniel_Nimham_(1920px_x_1920px),_border_cropped.jpg" caption="Statue of [[Daniel Nimham]], a sachem of the [[Wappinger]]."] ::

A sachem or sagamore is a usually male paramount chief among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Algonquian languages. Some sources indicate the sagamore was a lesser chief elected by a single band, while the sachem was the head or representative elected by a tribe or group of bands; others suggest the two terms were interchangeable. The sachem is an appointed or elected position and not strictly hereditary. However, the choice of sachem is at least partly based on the prominence of the individual's family or kinship ties to the previous sachem.

Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary found a use from 1613. The term "Sagamore" appears in Noah Webster's first An American Dictionary of the English Language published in 1828, as well as the 1917 Webster's New International Dictionary.

One modern source explains:

::quote

According to Captain John Smith, who explored New England in 1614, the Massachusett tribes called their kings "sachems" while the Penobscots (of present-day Maine) used the term "sagamos" (anglicized as "sagamore"). Conversely, Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley of Roxbury wrote in 1631 that the kings in the Massachusetts Bay bay area were called sagamores, but were called sachems southward (in Plymouth). The two terms apparently came from the same root. Although "sagamore" has sometimes been defined by colonists and historians as a subordinate lord (or subordinate chief), modern opinion is that "sachem" and "sagamore" are dialectical variations of the same word. ::

Cognate words

::data[format=table]

FamilyLanguageWordNotes
Eastern AlgonquianProto-Eastern Algonquian*sākimāwtheoretical reconstruction
Narragansettsâchimanglicized as sachem
Lenapesakimaderived from earlier form sakimaw
Eastern Abnakisakəmaanglicized as sagamore
Mi'kmaqsaqamawNinigret
Malecite-Passamaquoddysakom
Western Abnakisôgmô
Wangunksequin
Central AlgonquianProto-Central Algonquian*okimāwatheoretical reconstruction
Anishinaabeogimaa
Algonquinogimà
Ottawagimaa
Potawatomiwgemaanglicised as Ogema
Eastern Swampy Creeokimâw
Northern East Creeuchimaa
Southern East Creeuchimaa
Naskapiiiyuuchimaawurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527201931/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/naskapi/020011-150-e.php?uid=020011-nlc003120&uidc=recKeydate=2008-05-27 }}. Kawawachikamach, Quebec: Naskapi Development Corp.
Miami-Illinoisakima
::

Chiefs

The "great chief" (Southern New England Algonquian: massasoit sachem) whose aid was such a boon to the Plymouth Colony—although his motives were complex—is remembered today as simply Massasoit.

Another sachem, Mahomet Weyonomon of the Mohegan tribe, travelled to London in 1735, to petition King George II for fairer treatment of his people. He complained that their lands were becoming overrun by encroachment from white settlers. Other sachems included Uncas, Wonalancet, Madockawando, and Samoset.

In popular culture

Government and politics

  • The leader of New York City's Tammany Hall was officially referred to as Sachem.
  • In the 1940s, the legislature of Indiana created the honorary title of "Sagamore of the Wabash", analogous to Kentucky Colonel. In 1996, the government designated "Sachem of the Wabash" as a higher honor.

Schools

References

| title=American Heritage Dictionary | year=2000 | publisher=Houghton Mifflin |edition=4th | chapter=sagamore | chapter-url= http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/sagamore}} | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sachem | title=sachem | work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary | publisher=Merriam-Webster Online | access-date=2009-11-09}} | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sagamore | title=sagamore | work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary | publisher=Merriam-Webster Online |access-date=2009-11-09}}

References

  1. [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html Life & Times: Squaw Sachem"] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-10-10 , ''Hawthorne in Salem'', ''The Daily Times Chronicle'', Winchester Edition (MA), December 1999, accessed 27 Jan 2010)
  2. Kehoe, Alice. North American Indians, A Comprehensive Account. Third Edition. 2006
  3. "Jeffrey Graf, "Sangamore of the Wabash" from Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington".
  4. (1973). "Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary". G. & C. Merriam Co.
  5. [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html Life & Times: Squaw Sachem"] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-10-10 , ''Hawthorne in Salem'', ''The Daily Times Chronicle'', Winchester Edition (MA), December 1999, accessed 27 Jan 2010)
  6. Goddard, Ives (1978). "Eastern Algonquian languages", in "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 75
  7. "sakima". Lenape Talking Dictionary.
  8. Francis, David A., Sr. et al. [http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Maliseet/dictionary/ ''Maliseet - Passamaquoddy Dictionary'']. Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute
  9. Laurent, Joseph. (1884). "New familiar Abenakis and English dialogues the first ever published on the grammatical system".
  10. Forest, John William De. (1853). "History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850". Archon Books.
  11. Nichols, John, and Earl Nyholm. (1995). ''A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
  12. Mcgregor, Ernest. (1994). ''Algonquin Lexicon''. Maniwaki, QC: Kitigan Zibi Education Council.
  13. Rhodes, Richard A. (1985). ''Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  14. MacKenzie, Marguerite (editor). (c2007). ''Wasaho Ininîwimowin Dictionary (Fort Severn Cree)''. Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre.
  15. Bobbish-Salt, Luci et al. (2004–06). ''Northern EastCree Dictionary''. Cree School Board.
  16. Neeposh, Ella et al. (2004–07). ''Southern EastCree Dictionary''. Cree School Board.
  17. link. (2008-05-27 . Kawawachikamach, Quebec: Naskapi Development Corp.)
  18. "ILDA Dictionary".
  19. Mann, Charles C.. (2005). "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus". Knopf Doubleday.
  20. Note that this ''massa-'' element meaning "great" in the [[Massachusett language]] also appears in the name of the [[Massachusett]] (i.e. "Great Hills people") and subsequently in the name of the [[Commonwealth of Massachusetts]].
  21. (August 22, 1955). "Sachems & Sinners: An Informal History of Tammany Hall". Time Magazine.
  22. (13 March 2007). "Governor presents Sachem to Jane Blaffer Owen". Office of Governor Mitch Daniels.

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algonquian-peoplesindigenous-peoples-of-the-northeastern-woodlandstitles-and-offices-of-native-american-leaderstribal-chiefs