Montauk Confederacy
The Montauk Confederacy was a coalition of Native American tribes in Southern New England, primarily formed for mutual protection against neighboring tribes such as the Pequot and Narragansett. This confederacy included various groups sharing similar cultural patterns and languages, with the Montauk tribe being the most dominant among them. The term "Montauk" is believed to mean "fortified place," reflecting their strategic role in the region.
Historically, the Montauk and associated tribes practiced seasonal migrations for subsistence, relying on a mix of agriculture, hunting, and fishing to support their communities. They lived in small circular houses during temperate seasons and larger longhouses in winter, governed by hereditary chiefs known as sachems, who consulted with councils and respected women in decision-making roles.
The population of the confederacy was about six thousand around 1600, but it declined sharply due to European diseases and other factors. By the 19th century, the remnants of the Montauk tribe preserved their cultural traditions, although many aspects, including their language, diminished over time. In modern times, there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional customs and identity among the Shinnecock and other descendants of the confederacy, leading to efforts for tribal recognition and cultural revitalization.
Montauk Confederacy
Tribes affected: Corchaug, Manhassett, Massapequa, Matinecock, Merric, Montauk, Nesaquake, Patchogue (Poospatuck), Rockaway, Secatogue, Setauket, Shinnecock, Unquachog
Culture area: Northeast
Language group: Algonquian
Primary location: Central and eastern Long Island
The Montauk Confederacy was formed as a protective league against mainland tribes, primarily the Pequot and Narragansett. Its member groups shared essentially the same culture patterns and language. Thus, they may have been loosely connected elements of one group or tribe. The Montauk were the most powerful and controlled the others. Montauk may mean “fortified place.”
The Montauk subsisted on plant, land, and sea animals. Food cultivation required a complex and frequent pattern of seasonal shifting of residences, from the summer fields to the deep forests in the winter. A trade network linking regional and adjacent groups was also developed. Trading with Europeans began in the sixteenth century.
The tribes lived in villages of small circular houses holding two families during the temperate seasons. In winter they lived in large longhouses that held forty to fifty people. Villages were relocated when the supply of firewood was depleted.
Each village was presided over by a hereditary chief or sachem. Sachems had limited power and always made decisions in consultation with a council of “great men.” Women also held respected positions. Quahawan, the sister of Nowedonah and Paygratasuck, Shinnecock and Manhassett sachems, became a Shinnecock sachem around 1667. The confederacy was presided over by the Montauk sachem, the grand sachem or great chief. Wyandanck (mid-seventeenth century), brother of the above three named sachems, was the most famous leader of the confederacy.
The confederacy population was about six thousand in 1600. Because of white diseases, alcoholism, and raids, numbers rapidly declined. Around 1788, most of the one hundred or so remaining members joined the Brotherton Indians in New York and moved with them to the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin about 1833. The handful of remaining Montauk and Shinnecock, the last representatives of the Long Island tribes, preserved tribal organization into the nineteenth century. Their last hereditary grand sachem, David Pharaoh, died about 1875. The old customs and native language were lost soon thereafter.
Limited hunting, fishing, crop cultivation, and sale of craft items on the 400-acre Shinnecock reservation provided subsistence. Limited financial support from New York State and off-reservation low-wage jobs provided additional income. The encroachment of suburbia and tourists wanting to see “real Indians” rekindled an interest in traditional tribal customs and dress, self-respect, and group pride beginning in the 1900s. Renewed interest in tribal incorporation occurred in the 1930s. Intertribal associations, such as the Algonquin Council of Indian Tribes (1926), were formed. The Shinnecock are represented by an elected council in their dealings with New York State. The 2017-2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates indicated the population of the Poospatuck (state) Reservation totaled 684, and the Shinnecock (state) Reservation totaled 39.