Sachem

This article is about the Algonquin paramount chief. For other uses, see Sachem (disambiguation).

A sachem or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American First Nation tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c.1622) from different Eastern Algonquian languages. Some sources contend the sagamore was a lesser chief than the sachem.

Etymology

One source explains:

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 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

Family	Language	Word	Notes
Eastern Algonquian	Proto-Eastern Algonquian	*sākimāw	Reconstructed original
	Lenape	sakima	derived from earlier form sakimaw
	Narragansett	sâchim	anglicized as sachem
	Eastern Abnaki	sakəma	anglicized as sagamore
	Malecite-Passamaquoddy	sakom
	Western Abnaki	sôgmô
Central Algonquian	Proto-Central Algonquian	*hākimāw	Reconstructed original
	Anishinaabe	ogimaa
	Algonquin	ogimà
	Ottawa	gimaa
	Potawatomi	wgema	anglicised as Ogema
	Northern East Cree	uchimaa
	Southern East Cree	uchimaa
	Naskapi	iiyuuchimaaw

Chiefs

See also: List of Native American leaders

The "great chief" (Southern New England Algonquian: massasoit sachem) whose aid was such a boon to the Plymouth Colony 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 English settlers. Other sachem included Uncas, Wonalancet, Madockawando, and Samoset.

In popular culture

Government and politics

• Theodore Roosevelt named his home near Oyster Bay, New York on Long Island, Sagamore Hill.
• "Sachem" was a title adopted by leaders of the Tammany societies, notably in Tammany Hall in New York City. The eponymous Tammany was a sachem of the Lenape. A fraternal society arose out of the Tammany societies which was named the Improved Order of Red Men, and to this day two of their national officers are known as the "Great Senior Sagamore" and the "Great Junior Sagamore."
• 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.

Journalism

• One of the oldest weekly newspapers in Canada is called The Grand River Sachem. It has been publishing since 1856 and is located in Caledonia, Ontario.

Literature

• James Fenimore Cooper featured a character called "The Sagamore" in his novel The Last of the Mohicans.
• Rick, the protagonist of Simon Spurrier's novel, The Culled (2006, book 1 of The Afterblight Chronicles), belongs to the Haudenosaunee people and is guided through crises by the sachem. Another character, named Hiawatha, saves Rick's life and advises him the Tadodaho have said Rick and Hiawatha's courses are "aligned".
• The 1838 poem "Sachem's-Wood" by James Abraham Hillhouse (son of United States Senator James Hillhouse) describes the demise of the free sachem and his people.

Schools

• Algonquin Regional High School, in Northborough, MA, named its art and poetry magazine Sachem after this Algonquin word.
• Laconia High School, in Laconia, NH, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".
• Middleborough High School, in Middleboro, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".
• Pentucket Regional High School, in West Newbury, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".
• Saugus High School, in Saugus, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".
• Winchester High School, Massachusetts, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".
• RHAM High School, in Hebron, CT, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".