Robin Cassacinamon

{{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sachem | name = Robin Cassacinamon | native_name =  | native_name_lang =  | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | image_size = | order = | office = Governor and Sachem of the Pequot | status = | term_start = 1655 | term_end = 1692 | birth_date = c.1620s | birth_place = | death_date = 1692 | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | children = | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | education = | occupation = Tribal Chief, translator, soldier | profession = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | website = | nickname =  | allegiance = Pequot<br>New England Confederation | branch = | service_years = | rank = | unit = | commands = | battles = King Phillip's War | footnotes = }} '''Robin Cassacinamon''' (c.1620s-1692) was a Pequot Indian governor appointed by the United Colonies to govern Pequots in southeastern Connecticut.

The New England colonies placed Cassacinamon under the authority of colonial ally Uncas of the Mohegan tribe following the Pequot War of 1637. In 1638, Cassacinamon became a servant in the home of John Winthrop<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Roger |title=Correspondence of Roger Williams |date=1988 |publisher=Brown/Rhode Island Historical Society |isbn=978-0874513868 |pages=168–169}}</ref><ref name="Gronim">{{cite journal |last1=Gronim |first1=Sara S. |date=June 2011 |title=The Magus of Connecticut: How Taking Alchemy Seriously Changes Early New England History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23014377 |journal=Reviews in American History |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=246–253 |doi=10.1353/rah.2011.0081 |jstor=23014377 |s2cid=144170204 |access-date=23 October 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> in Boston where he learned English. He served as a translator, and he helped the Pequots to request to be under colonial authority rather than under Uncas. By the late 1640s Cassacinamon was with John Winthrop, Jr. in what is now New London.<ref>Shawn G. Wiemann, ''Lasting Marks: The Legacy of Robin Cassacinamon and the Survival of the Mashantucket Pequot Nation'' (University of New Mexico, Dissertation, 2011) http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=hist_etds</ref>

By 1655, the United Colonies appointed Cassacinamon to be governor of the Pequots in settlements at Nameaug (New London, Connecticut) and Noank. Cassacinamon executed Canonchet during King Philip's War, and the colonies commended his service during the war.<ref>Shawn G. Wiemann, Lasting Marks: The Legacy of Robin Cassacinamon and the Survival of the Mashantucket Pequot Nation (University of New Mexico, Dissertation, 2011) http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=hist_etds</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://yipp.yale.edu/bio/bibliography/cassasinamon-robin-1692|title = Cassasinamon, Robin, - 1692 | Native Northeast Portal}}</ref> He used his negotiation skills to secure the return of some tribal lands, resulting in the establishment of an approximately 3,000-acre reservation in 1665-1666.<ref name="HistoryNews">{{cite journal |date=Summer 1998 |title=High Stakes History: The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42655595 |journal=History News |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=16–19 |jstor=42655595 |access-date=23 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Lawlor">{{cite journal |last1=Lawlor |first1=Mary |date=March 2005 |title=Identity in Mashantucket |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068254 |journal=American Quarterly |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=153–177 |doi=10.1353/aq.2005.0011 |jstor=40068254 |s2cid=144604985 |access-date=23 October 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He remained sachem until his death in 1692.<ref name="Logo">{{cite news |author= |date=8 February 2017 |title=Foxwoods' Logo Tells the Story of the Tribe |url=https://issuu.com/theresident5/docs/issue_01_08_17_foxwoods/29 |work=The Resident |location=Pawcatuck, Connecticut |access-date=23 October 2021}}</ref>

In the late 20th Century, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation adopted Cassacinamon's ligature as part of their tribal seal.<ref name="Silberman">{{cite journal |last1=Silberman |first1=Neil Asher |date=July–August 1991 |title=Pequot Country |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41765985 |journal=Archaeology |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=34–39 |jstor=41765985 |access-date=23 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Logo"></ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassacinamon, Robin}} Category:1690s deaths Category:Native American people from Connecticut Category:17th-century Native American leaders Category:Pequot people Category:People of the Pequot War Category:Tribal chiefs Category:People from colonial Connecticut