{{Short description|Paramount chief of certain North American tribes}} {{about|the Algonquian paramount chief}} {{redirect|Sagamaw|the Italian commune|Sagama}} [[File:Sachem Daniel Nimham (1920px x 1920px), border cropped.jpg|thumb|Statue of Daniel Nimham, a sachem of the Wappinger]]
A '''sachem''' {{IPAc-en|'|s|ei|ch|@|m}} or '''sagamore''' {{IPAc-en|'|s|ae|g|@|m|ɔːr}} is a term for the leaders of Algonquian polities along the northeastern coast of North America. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Algonquian languages. Some sources indicate the sagamore was a lesser chief elected by a single band, while the sachem was the head or representative elected by a tribe or group of bands;<ref name="ahd-sachem"/><ref name="mw-sachem"/> others suggest the two terms were interchangeable.<ref>[http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html Life & Times: Squaw Sachem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010144306/http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans%26Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html |date=2008-10-10 }}, ''Hawthorne in Salem'', ''The Daily Times Chronicle'', Winchester Edition (MA), December 1999, accessed 27 Jan 2010</ref> The sachem is an appointed or elected position and not strictly hereditary.<ref>Kehoe, Alice. North American Indians, A Comprehensive Account. Third Edition. 2006</ref> However, the choice of sachem is at least partly based on the prominence of the individual's family or kinship ties to the previous sachem.
==Etymology== The Oxford English Dictionary found a use from 1613. The term "Sagamore" appears in Noah Webster's first ''An American Dictionary of the English Language'' published in 1828, as well as the 1917 ''Webster's New International Dictionary''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://libraries.indiana.edu/sites/default/files/Sagamore%20of%20the%20Wabash-October-30-2017-final_3.pdf|title=Jeffrey Graf, "Sangamore of the Wabash" from Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington}}</ref>
One modern source explains:
<blockquote> According to Captain John Smith, who explored New England in 1614, the Massachusett tribes called their kings "sachems" while the Penobscots (of present-day Maine) used the term "sagamos" (anglicized as "sagamore"). Conversely, Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley of Roxbury wrote in 1631 that the kings in the Massachusetts Bay bay area were called sagamores, but were called sachems southward (in Plymouth). The two terms apparently came from the same root. Although "sagamore" has sometimes been defined by colonists and historians as a subordinate lord (or subordinate chief<ref>{{cite book|title=Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary|page=1018|publisher=G. & C. Merriam Co|location=Springfield, Massachusetts|date=1973|isbn=0-87779-308-5}}</ref>), modern opinion is that "sachem" and "sagamore" are dialectical variations of the same word.<ref>[http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html Life & Times: Squaw Sachem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010144306/http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans%26Blacks/MainStreet/MMD666.html |date=2008-10-10 }}, ''Hawthorne in Salem'', ''The Daily Times Chronicle'', Winchester Edition (MA), December 1999, accessed 27 Jan 2010</ref> </blockquote>
===Cognate words=== {|class="wikitable" |- !Family !Language !Word !Notes |- | rowspan="8" | Eastern Algonquian | Proto-Eastern Algonquian | ''*sākimāw'' | theoretical reconstruction |- | Narragansett | ''sâchim'' | anglicized as ''sachem''<ref name="goddard">Goddard, Ives (1978). "Eastern Algonquian languages", in "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 75</ref> |- | Lenape | ''sakima'' | derived from earlier form ''sakimaw''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=9092 |title=sakima |work=Lenape Talking Dictionary |access-date=2011-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728081539/http://www.talk-lenape.org/detail.php?id=9092 |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}</ref> |- | Eastern Abnaki | ''sakəma'' | anglicized as ''sagamore''<ref name="goddard"/> |- | Mi'kmaq | ''saqamaw'' |Ninigret |- | Malecite-Passamaquoddy | ''sakom'' | <ref>Francis, David A., Sr. et al. [http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Maliseet/dictionary/ ''Maliseet - Passamaquoddy Dictionary'']. Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute</ref> |- | Western Abnaki | ''sôgmô'' |<ref>{{cite book |last=Laurent |first=Joseph |date=1884 |title=New familiar Abenakis and English dialogues the first ever published on the grammatical system |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.08895}}</ref> |- |Wangunk |''sequin'' |<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyindiansc00foregoog|title=History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850|last=Forest|first=John William De|date=1853|publisher=Archon Books|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyindiansc00foregoog/page/n90 54]|language=en}}</ref> |- | rowspan="10" | Central Algonquian | Proto-Central Algonquian | ''*okimāwa'' | theoretical reconstruction |- | Anishinaabe | ''ogimaa'' | <ref>Nichols, John, and Earl Nyholm. (1995). ''A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press</ref> |- | Algonquin | ''ogimà'' | <ref>Mcgregor, Ernest. (1994). ''Algonquin Lexicon''. Maniwaki, QC: Kitigan Zibi Education Council.</ref> |- | Ottawa | ''gimaa'' | <ref>Rhodes, Richard A. (1985). ''Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.</ref> |- | Potawatomi | ''wgema'' | anglicised as Ogema |- | Eastern Swampy Cree | ''okimâw'' |<ref>MacKenzie, Marguerite (editor). (c2007). ''Wasaho Ininîwimowin Dictionary (Fort Severn Cree)''. Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre.</ref> |- | Northern East Cree | ''uchimaa'' |<ref>Bobbish-Salt, Luci et al. (2004–06). ''Northern EastCree Dictionary''. Cree School Board.</ref> |- | Southern East Cree | ''uchimaa'' |<ref>Neeposh, Ella et al. (2004–07). ''Southern EastCree Dictionary''. Cree School Board.</ref> |- | Naskapi | ''iiyuuchimaaw'' | <ref>MacKenzie, Marguerite and Bill Jancewicz. (1994). [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/naskapi/020011-150-e.php?uid=020011-nlc003120&uidc=recKey ''Naskapi lexicon''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527201931/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/naskapi/020011-150-e.php?uid=020011-nlc003120&uidc=recKey |date=2008-05-27 }}. Kawawachikamach, Quebec: Naskapi Development Corp.</ref> |- |Miami-Illinois |''akima'' |<ref>{{Cite web |title=ILDA Dictionary |url=https://mc.miamioh.edu/ilda-myaamia/dictionary/entries/3048 |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=mc.miamioh.edu}}</ref> |}
==Chiefs== {{see also|List of Native American leaders}} The "great chief" (Southern New England Algonquian: ''massasoit sachem'') whose aid was such a boon to the Plymouth Colony—although his motives were complex<ref>{{cite book | last=Mann | first=Charles C. | title=1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus | publisher=Knopf Doubleday | series=Borsoi Book | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-4000-4006-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw2TE_UNHJYC}}</ref>—is remembered today as simply Massasoit.<ref>Note that this ''massa-'' element meaning "great" in the Massachusett language also appears in the name of the Massachusett (i.e. "Great Hills people") and subsequently in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.</ref>
Another sachem, Mahomet Weyonomon of the Mohegan tribe, travelled to London in 1735, to petition King George II for fairer treatment of his people. He complained that their lands were becoming overrun by encroachment from white settlers.{{fact|date=June 2021}} Other sachems included Awashonks, Weetamoo, Quaiapen, Uncas, Wonalancet, Askamaboo, Cheryll Toney Holley, Madockawando, Saunkskwa of Missitekw and Samoset.
==In popular culture==
===Government and politics=== * The leader of New York City's Tammany Hall was officially referred to as Sachem.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sachems & Sinners: An Informal History of Tammany Hall |journal=Time Magazine |date=August 22, 1955 |url=https://time.com/archive/6609871/sachems-sinners-an-informal-history-of-tammany-hall/ |access-date=20 September 2024}}</ref> *In the 1940s, the legislature of Indiana created the honorary title of "Sagamore of the Wabash", analogous to Kentucky Colonel. In 1996, the government designated "Sachem of the Wabash" as a higher honor.<ref>{{cite press release |last1=Jankowski |first1=Jane |last2=Rateike |first2=Brad |date=13 March 2007 |title=Governor presents Sachem to Jane Blaffer Owen |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |publisher=Office of Governor Mitch Daniels |url=https://www.in.gov/portal/pressAndEvents/press25.htm |access-date=14 June 2023}}</ref>
===Schools=== * Sachem School District, on Long Island, one of the largest school districts on the island. * Algonquin Regional High School, in Northborough, MA, named its art and poetry magazine ''Sachem'' after this Algonquian word.{{cn|date=May 2014}} * Laconia High School, in Laconia, NH, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".{{cn|date=May 2014}} * Middleborough High School, in Middleboro, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".{{cn|date=May 2014}} * Pentucket Regional High School, in West Newbury, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems". * Saugus High School, in Saugus, MA, refers to all of its athletic teams as the "Sachems".{{cn|date=December 2014}} * Massapequa High School, in Massapequa, NY, named its annual student yearbook ''The Sachem.'' *The Sachems, a secret society at Columbia University
== References == {{Refbegin}}
{{Refend}} {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="ahd-sachem">{{cite book | title=American Heritage Dictionary | year=2000 | publisher=Houghton Mifflin |edition=4th | chapter=sachem | chapter-url= http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/sachem }} </ref><ref name="ahd-sagamore">{{cite book | title=American Heritage Dictionary | year=2000 | publisher=Houghton Mifflin |edition=4th | chapter=sagamore | chapter-url= http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/sagamore}} </ref><ref name="mw-sachem">{{cite web | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sachem | title=sachem | work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary | publisher=Merriam-Webster Online | access-date=2009-11-09}} </ref><ref name="mw-sagamore">{{cite web | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sagamore | title=sagamore | work=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary | publisher=Merriam-Webster Online |access-date=2009-11-09}} </ref> }}
{{Wiktionary|sachem|sagamore}}
Category:Algonquian peoples Category:Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands Category:Titles and offices of Native American leaders *