Squaw Sachem of Mistick (Saunkskwa) (~1590-1667) for International Women’s Day 2021
The powerful female Massachusett chief (the “Queen of Massachusetts”) who made the deal with Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony that allowed the English to settle in most of the greater Boston area, including Cambridge, Watertown, Arlington, Medford, Winchester, Newton, Somerville, Charlestown, Malden, and Concord, in exchange for corn, wampum shell beads, and a new winter coat every winter for life.
Her tribe was troubled by a war with the Mi’kmaq from Maine (who had access to firearms through the French), resulting in the death of her husband, the former sachem Nanepashemet, and the smallpox epidemic, so an alliance with the English seemed like a strategic decision at the time. She lived most of her life by the Mystic River and Mystic Lakes in Medford. Her real name is unknown (the colonists just called her her title, Squaw Sachem, out of respect) and she signed legal documents with a little drawing of a bow and arrow.