Wuchikittawbut – Wife of Wyandanch

Introduction

Wuchikittawbut (Wuch-i-kit-taw-but)(ca. 1622-1663) was the wife of the famous Wyandanch of the Montaukett.

Family

Wuchikittawbut was married to Sachem Wyandanch of the Montaukett. They had a son named Wyancombone, and a daughter named Quashawam.¹

History

1662

Following the death of her husband Wyandanch in 1659, Wuchikittawbut and her son Wyancombone were pressed by Lion Gardiner, Thomas James, and John Mulford to give them a tract of land as a gift of “thanks” for protecting them from the Ninigret in New England. The tract, called Hither Woods, lay between East Hampton on the west and the Montaukett homeland in the east. The text, written as if Wyancombone himself were speaking, affirmed that Gardiner and his son David were his “two guardians,” appointed by his father.²

1663

On January 14, 1663, Wuchikittawbut was identified as a Sunksquaw, indicating that she had taken over leadership of the Montauketts following the death of her son Wyancombone.³

Around 1663, Wuchikittawbut died.⁴ A woman was found during the early 20th century, estimated to be in her twenties, dressed or wrapped in a red textile cloak or dress and interred in a mahogany coffin. The woman was of high status and may have been Wuchikittawbut or her daughter Quashawam. The woman wore beads and a string of copper bells, and the remains of a small dog lay near her head. The presence of dog sacrifices in female graves was not uncommon in pre-contact burials; the dog’s role may have been to accompany the deceased into the spirit world.⁵

1. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen, 2018, pp 41[↩]
2. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen, 2018, pp 42[↩]
3. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen, 2018, pp 45[↩]
4. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen, 2018, pp 46[↩]
5. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen, 2018, pp 97[↩]