The Indians

The Quaboag                                                                     Quaboag Indian Wigwam - 1665          (Photo-scale model - Bronson Museum - Mass. Arch. Soc.)

The Quaboag Indians were of the Algonquin linguistic family, one of the most widespread of Indian linguistic stocks. In historical times, tribes speaking these languages extended from the Atlantic coast to the Continental Divide. The local tribe was one of three (Quaboag, Nashaway and Nipmuck), which together were generally spoken of as the Nipnets or “Fresh Water Indians.” The total number of individuals in these three tribes in 1675 was about 3,000. Geographically, they were located between the River Indians (Connecticut River Tribes on the west, and the Coastal Tribes (Massachusetts, Cape Cod Indians, etc.,) on the east. They paid allegiance to Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, friend to the Pilgrims, and Grand Sachem of all Southern New England tribes.

The inter-tribal organization seems to have been a very indefinite one, and each of the tribes was pretty much of an entity in itself.  This was well illustrated in the dealings which occurred subsequently between the natives and the white exploiters. Most recorded real estate and other transactions were made between sachems and individuals of the tribes directly with the purchasers, without reference to any higher Indian authority. This was noted when the details of the purchase of the land which was to become Quaboag Plantation was presented.

The Quaboag tribe territorial holdings were roughly the area now making up the towns of New Braintree, Barre Plains, the Brookfields, Warren, Brimfield and parts of Sturbridge. The area afforded all the prime requisites of a stable Indian economy. These requisites were ‘good planting fields for corn and other vegetables at Ashquoash (Brimfield), and Wekabaug (West Brookfield) an abundance of fish in the Quaboag River and its tributaries, an easy access to the Great Falls of the Connecticut River (Holyoke) by way of the Nipmuck Path, and excellent cover for deer and other game in the local forests’, assuring an abundant supply of meat. In addition, the readily defensible areas at Ashquoash and Menameset on the southern and northern extremities respectively of the territory, further increased the value of their domain in time of war.

The permanent villages, each with a ruling sachem, were spread out over the entire territory, in locations most favorable for the raising of wigwams, availability of a good water supply and convenience to the planting fields and other work areas.
If there was one main village of the Quaboags, it was probably Wekabaug on the plain at the southerly end of Lake Wickaboag. Communication between these villages and other parts of the Indian domain was a very important factor in the day-to-day existence of the natives, and was provided primarily by the paths, well worn into the landscape by the passage of many moccasin shod feet. (Later these same paths were to become the traffic arteries of the white man).

Source:  "Quaboag Plantation Alias Brookefeild" by Louis E. Roy, M. D., 1965, West Brookfield, MA., The Heffernan Press, Inc., Worcester, Massachusetts.