This is a deed for land that would become the town of Deerfield, Massachusetts. A group of Englishmen from Dedham, Massachusetts, delegated John Pynchon, a well-known and powerful landowner in Springfield, Massachusetts, to represent them in this sale. A sachem named Chauk represented the Pocumtuck, the Indigenous people whose homelands encompassed the land described in the deed. However, Chauk was probably not Pocumtuck. Also, although it was noted that the Pocumtuck people would retain fishing, hunting, and gathering rights, the sale of their homeland was not a concept they would have understood. They and Chauk might have thought they were agreeing to share use of the land, but they did not believe it could be owned. European notions of exclusive land ownership and Native beliefs of stewardship and usage were ultimately incompatible. Disagreements immediately arose as settlers moved into Deerfield and elsewhere and asserted what they saw as their exclusive rights to the land they had purchased.
Chaqve, sachem of Pacomtuck, Chauk alias. Deed of Pacomtuck land granted by Chauk to Dedham residents. 1665. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l98-012/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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