What Did the Pequot Indians Live In?

The Pequot Indians lived in wigwams. Wigwams are different from tepees. Wigwams are smaller, round houses. The Pequot Indians frequently used buckskin to build the wigwams. Some Pequot villages had longhouses, in addition to wigwams.

The Pequot villages were also extremely protected. The Pequot tribe was afraid of war, and thus ensured that their villages were fortified against enemies.

Pequot Indian Life in Connecticut

At the time of European contact, the Pequot Indians lived in Connecticut. Specifically, the Pequot Indians lived in the southeast of Connecticut, from the east of the Nehantic River to the border of Rhode Island.

However, the Pequot Indians had previously lived in New York. In the early sixteenth century, the Pequot Indians and the Mohegan Indians formed a single tribe. They lived in Hudson River Valley, close to Lake Champlain, in New York. The tribe then migrated to Connecticut.

The Pequot Indians and the Mohegan Indians then split into different tribes by the middle of the seventeenth century. The two distinct tribes still shared a similar language, culture, and customs.

Population of the Pequot Indians

When the Pequot Indians were one tribe with the Mohegan Indians, their population was approximately 6000 in the early seventeenth century. After the Mohegan Indians split from the Pequot Indians and the Pequot Indians suffered from a smallpox epidemic, the population of the Pequot Indians almost dropped to half.

As of 1637, historians believed there were approximately 3000 Pequot Indians. Unfortunately, the Pequot War in 1637 only further decimated the Pequot population. Historians believe that approximately 1500 Pequot Indians remained after the Pequot War was finished. The tribe was considered virtually extinct.

By 1762, there were approximately 140 Pequot Indians remaining in North America. However, the population did grow after the Pequot Indians were put in established reservations. As of 2010, there are approximately 1000 to 2000 Pequot Indians.

Food of the Pequot Indians

The Pequot Indians were extremely agricultural. They grew a number of different crops which provided them sustenance. These crops and plants included:

Corn
Beans
Squash
Tobacco

However, the Pequot Indians also hunted and fished for food. Their location was close to a coast, and thus the Pequot Indians were adept fishermen. The Pequot fishermen used spears, nets, and bone hooks to capture their fish.

The Pequot men would hunt deer, turkeys, and smaller animals throughout the forests. While hunting, the Pequot men frequently used bows and arrows to kill their prey. Occasionally, they might use spears or clubs if the game they were trying to kill was particularly large.

Language of the Pequot Indians

The Pequot Indians shared a language with the Mohegan tribe. Both the Pequot and Mohegan Indians spoke a dialect of Algonquin. This dialect was also spoken by some other tribes in the area including the:

Narragansett
Montauk
Shinnecock
Niantic

Organization of the Pequot Indians

The central authority of the Pequot Indians was their tribal council, and their grand sachem. These two authorities made the major decisions for the tribe, including any military decisions which the Pequot Indians may have faced.