The Agawam were an Algonquian Native American people inhabiting the coast of New England encountered by English colonists who arrived in the early 17th century.[1] Decimated by pestilence[which?] shortly before the English colonization and fearing attacks from their hereditary enemies among the Abenaki and other tribes of present-day Maine, they invited the English to settle with them on their tribal territory.
The General Court of Massachusetts protected them by colonial law, along with their land rights and their crops. The English defended them against further attacks. The Agawam had an open invitation to enter Puritan households. Often a small number would show up as dinner guests and were fed. By the time of King Philip's War in 1675, the Agawam had been assimilated. They played no part in the war.
- ^ Piotrowski, Thaddeus M. (2002). The Indian heritage of New Hampshire and northern New England. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-7864-1098-1.