Hammonasset people

The Hammonasset people were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands whose territory was along the west bank of the Connecticut River to the Hammonasset River in Connecticut.

Language
The Hammonasset spoke an Algonquian language.

Culture
In their society, villages were organized by patrilineal clans with names appointed by animal totems. The indigenous people who settled in the area named it Hammonasset, which roughly translates to “where we dig the ground.”

Economy and subsistence
They subsisted by fishing and hunting, and raised corn, beans, and squash. The Hammonasset River was one of the few to have salmon runs.

17th century
The first European colonists arrived in their territory area in 1638. In 1640, Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan, added the daughter of Sebequanash of the Hammonassets to his several wives. This marriage gave Uncas some type of control over their land which he promptly sold to New England colonists. The Hammonassets moved and became Mohegans.

They were once a band of Quinnipiac people, who were recorded living near Guilford, Connecticut. Their leader was named Sebequnash, or "The Man Who Weeps."

In 1730, the band's population was 250 to 300 people. By 1774, they were reduced to only 38 people. They moved to Farmington, Connecticut, to live among the Tunxis in 1768.