Wannalancet and the Pennacook Tribe

Primary Occupation(s)/trade(s):

• Wannalancet was a shachem(leader) of the Pennacook tribe.
• The Pennacook people were mainly hunters and gatherers, as they would hunt fish while being nomadic–meaning that they moved from place to place around the local area.
• Like Wannalancet, some Native American leaders had influence with the English settlers, in their attempts to bring peace between them. Though they did not hold office.

John Elliot and the settlers:

• In an attempt to convert the Native Americans into Christianity, they were taught to read, making religious texts “accessible in their own language”.
• There were some settlements in Massachusetts that were called “Indian Praying Towns”. The places were meant to bring the Christian Native Americans together as a way of separating them from their pagan counterparts.
• “One such community was established among the Pennacook, in what is now Lowell, at a place called Wamesit. Far from Eliot’s home in Boston, [for he had established some close to him while others far away], Wamesit was not as closely monitored nor as devout as some other praying towns. The Christian Indians in Wamesit maintained good relations with the non-Christian Pennacook at Pawtucket Falls.” (UML pdf, Pg 6).