Nashaway

The Nashaway (or Nashua or Weshacum) were a tribe of Algonquian Indians inhabiting the Nashua River valley in present-day central Massachusetts in the 17th century. They are often associated with the Nipmuc, which is commonly used to describe many inland Massachusetts tribes that may or may not have shared a sense of common identity with the present-day Nipmuc.

After decades of peaceful coexistence, the Nashaway attacked the neighboring English settlement of Lancaster, Massachusetts, in August 1675 and again in February 1676 as part of the more general native-settler conflict known as King Philip’s War. During the latter action, the Nashaway sachem (chief), Monoco (“One-eyed John”), kidnapped a villager, Mary Rowlandson, who later wrote a best-selling narrative about her captivity and release.

References

*Bourne, Russell (1990), "The Red King's Rebellion: Racial Politics in New England, 1675-1678", Atheneum Publishers, pg 163 ff.