{"id":293,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:57:15","latitude":41.81084460000000291302058030851185321807861328125,"longitude":-71.46249549999998862404027022421360015869140625,"title":"Canonicus and Miantonomi","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/f5e933d87f4a2b3ccdf20038b49b1555.jpg","address":"675 Plainfield St. Providence, RI 02909","all_locations":[],"zoom":15,"creator":["Katharine Kirakosian and Tomaquag Museum"],"description":"Miantonomi and Canonicus lived and ruled in a period of extreme change for the Narragansett. Although there were no colonists in the region when Miantonomi was born (c. 1600), early trading interactions between Europeans and First Peoples eventually turned into increasing waves of colonists arriving. By 1640, there were 20,000 English in southern New England. Miantonomi and Canonicus ruled as dual Sachems. A Sachem is a paramount leader or chief in an Algonquian tribe. The practice of having dual Sachems was common among the Narragansett and other Algonquians.
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\r\nIn 1636, Canonicus and his nephew Miantonomi befriended Roger Williams, a newcomer to the area who had been banished by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The uncle and nephew deeded Williams a portion of land in 1638, which Williams named Providence. One of the boundary markers was Neutaconkanut Hill, a visible high point.
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\r\nWhile to Williams this transaction meant that he owned these lands, to the Narragansett, land could never be bought or sold. As such, they likely thought that they were sharing land with Williams and his followers. Subsequently, the Narragansett were shocked when they were unable to move freely about the land, with fences and stone walls at every turn and courts readily prosecuting them for trespassing--a very foreign concept indeed.
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\r\nAt the time, colonists knew of Miantonomi's political power in the region. In 1632, Boston even hosted him for a formal dinner. Governor Winthrop remarked that Miantonomi "was very deliberate and showed good understanding of justice, equity, and ingenuity."
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\r\nDuring the Pequot War (1636-37), the Narragansett, led by Canonicus and Miantonomi, allied with the English against the Pequots, who were enemies prior to European arrival. Williams' colony was essentially left defenseless if not for the Narragansett's support of the English. At the time, Narragansett animosity also extended to the Mohegan Tribe. The Mohegan Tribe were a group of Pequots that previously separated and had become increasingly hostile because of English encroachment and disagreements between two Sachems: Sassacus and Uncas. Although enemies with the Pequots, the Narragansett were horrified when the English killed Pequot women and children at Mystic Fort during the war. This went against the Narragansett code of war and was an act the English had sworn they would not do. From then on, Miantonomi increasingly distrusted the English.
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\r\nAfter the war, rumors soon swirled that Miantonomi was planning an uprising. In the fall of 1640, Miantonomi was again called to Boston, but this time it was to answer conspiracy charges. Miantonomi asked Roger Williams to serve as his interpreter, but Williams, having only been banished five years earlier, did not accompany him. Shortly after the meeting, the newly formed United Colonies of New England learned of a rousing speech Miantonomi made to encourage tribes to join him in an uprising. The United Colonies wanted Miantonomi to be stopped.
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\r\nIn 1643, Uncas, the Mohegan Sachem, finally captured Miantonomi and brought him to Hartford, where the English held him as a prisoner. Not knowing what to do with him, they returned Miantonomi to the Mohegan, which was likely a strategy to pit Native communities against each other. In captivity, Miantonomi was assassinated by Wawequa, Uncas' brother, which likely relieved the United Colonies. Canonicus died in 1647, reportedly brokenhearted from the loss of his nephew.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Neutaconkanut Hill was the western boundary of land included in the agreement between Williams, Miantonomi, and Canonicus.","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["

Grumet, Robert S. (editor) 1996 Northeastern Indian lives, 1632-1816. University of Massachusetts Press. Amherst, MA.

","O’Brien, Jean M. 2010. Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England. The University of Minnesota Press.","Den Ouden, Amy E. Beyond Conquest Native Peoples and the Struggle for History in New England. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. Print.","Brooks, Lisa. The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast. University of Minnesota Press, 2008. Print.","Springer, James Warren. \"American Indians and the Law of Real Property in Colonial New England.\" The American Journal of Legal History. Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan., 1986), pp. 25-58"],"factoids":["Tip:
"],"files":{"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/f5e933d87f4a2b3ccdf20038b49b1555.jpg":{"id":1229,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Providence Land Deed","description":"In 1638, Canonicus and Miantonomi signed a deed with Roger Williams, allowing him to officially establish Providence. | 1638","thumbnail":"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/f5e933d87f4a2b3ccdf20038b49b1555.jpg"},"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/6530509e026c0235822ce7535f4909db.jpg":{"id":1230,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Miantonomi Monument","description":"Here is a public marker honoring Miantonomi. It is located off Elijah Street in Norwich, Connecticut. It is believed that Miantonomi died near this location. | 2006","thumbnail":"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/6530509e026c0235822ce7535f4909db.jpg"},"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/49576ce3f5b1b30679f46f0cbf7c281a.jpg":{"id":1234,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Canonicus Square Marker","description":"Canonicus is recognized as core ally of Roger Williams and English colonists through the Pequot War. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a monument in Providence's Hoyle Square dedicated to Canonicus. The carved bow represents Canonoicus' mark on written documents. The monument was originally erected in the North Burial Ground in 1883. | c. 1990","thumbnail":"https://www.rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/49576ce3f5b1b30679f46f0cbf7c281a.jpg"}}}