The Mashpee Indian Revolt of 1833

Abstract

JN the first half of the nineteenth century, an age of repeated setbacks for the American Indian, the Mashpee tribe's struggle for self-government resulted in a unique, if incomplete, victory for Indian rights.1 Given the mood of Massachusetts in the 1830s, the tribe wisely spoke the language of reform, and their cause was in turn taken up by reformers. From civil rights, to temperance, to revivalism, the Indians at Mashpee reflected the concerns of the time, yet their outlook was different from that of most reformers. Unpolished but earnest, and often eloquent, the Mashpee addressed the problem of the Indian's place in a white man's world, and for a brief period around 1833 Indian values and pride intersected with reform and revivalism to revitalize Mashpee as an Indian community. In the 1830s about 1,500 Indians from a variety of tribes lived on reservations scattered throughout Massachusetts; the most extensive were located in southeastern coastal Massachusetts, on Cape Cod or the outlying islands.2 The largest single group of Indians in Massachusetts lived at Mashpee, where conditions were similar to neighboring reservations at Chappequiddick, Christiantown, Gay Head, and Herring Pond. Although reservations were within local municipalities,