Massachusetts: Indigenous people

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Indigenous peoples near Massachusetts supported both sides of the conflict. In 1775, a small number of Abenaki volunteers came to Cambridge to serve under Washington during the Siege of Boston. More significantly, on July 17, 1776, just days after news of the Declaration arrived, the Massachusetts Council signed the Treaty of Watertown with delegates from the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and Penobscot nations. The Declaration was translated into French and read to the gathered delegates through an interpreter. A Maliseet chief reportedly responded, “we like it well.” The Declaration was also read to the Mashpee community on September 8, 1776, by Congregationalist missionary Gideon Hawley. Some were already in military service at the time of the reading, suggesting engagement with the Patriot cause.

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Sara Martin
- Editor in Chief, The Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society

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