Sagamore (title)

Origin

Sagamore is a title of leadership historically given to the head of some Native American tribes. 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 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, modern opinion is that "sachem" and "sagamore" are dialectical variations of the same word. [ [http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html "The Daily Times Chronicle", Winchester Edition, December 1999] ]

In some texts, the title "sagamore" is confused with a given name leading to such tautologies as "the great Native warrior, Chief Sagamore of American author James Fenimore Cooper's novel, "The Last of the Mohicans". [ [http://www.travellady.com/Issues/March04/274TheSagamore.htm The Sagamore-Reminiscent of the Grand Hotel Era] ] Cooper's text does not contain this confusion but precedes "sagamore" with the appropriate article where needed.

The name has been applied to place names in the United States including Sagamore Hill, the home of Theodore Roosevelt.

Cognates

Derived from the Proto-Eastern Algonquian "sākimāw":
*"sâchim" (Narragansett language); anglicised as SachemGoddard, 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 ]
*"sakəma" (Eastern Abnaki language); anglicised as Sagamore
*"sakom" (Malecite-Passamaquoddy language) [Francis, David A., Sr. et al. [http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Maliseet/dictionary/ "Maliseet - Passamaquoddy Dictionary"] . Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute]
*"sôgmô" (Western Abnaki language) [Laurent, Joseph (1884) [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/ItemRecord/08895?id=eb80654be91e3734 "New familiar Abenakis and English dialogues the first ever published on the grammatical system"] ] Derived from the Proto-Central Algonquian "hākimāw":
*"ogimaa" (Anishinaabe language); [Nichols, John, and Earl Nyholm. (1995). "A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe". Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press ] written as "ogimà" in the Algonquin language, [Mcgregor, Ernest. (1994). "Algonquin Lexicon". Maniwaki, QC: Kitigan Zibi Education Council. ] "gimaa" in the Ottawa language, [Rhodes, Richard A. (1985). "Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary". Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.] "wgema" in the Potawatomi language; anglicised as Ogema.
*"uchimaa" (Northern [Bobbish-Salt, Luci et al. (2004-2006). "Northern EastCree Dictionary". Cree School Board.] and Southern East Cree languages [Neeposh, Ella et al. (2004-2007). "Southern EastCree Dictionary". Cree School Board.] )
*"iiyuuchimaaw" (Naskapi language) [MacKenzie, Marguerite and Bill Jancewicz. (1994). [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/naskapi/020011-150-e.php?uid=020011-nlc003120&uidc=recKey "Naskapi lexicon"] . Kawawachikamach, Quebec: Naskapi Development Corp.]

ee also

*Sachem

References