Simeon Simons

The period of the 18th through the early 20th Century bears rich historical importance for the Pokanoket Nation. Contemporary Pokanoket people recall that during this long stretch of history they were largely “an invisible tribe,” due to their fears of identifying as Pokanoket in the aftermath of King Philip’s War and due to being forced to adopt the name Wampanoag by the dominant society. Sowams, which the Pokanoket never surrendered nor sold, was simply taken by a consortium of Boston land grabbers in 1680. In the 1700s, Pokanokets in Connecticut and Seekonk did what they could to survive, including collaborating with other communities and welcoming back Metom from slavery, who returned to find his people.

Later, Simeon Simons (1759-1835), a direct descendant of Metacom and resident of Pachaug, CT, was born into a world where his cultural identity had been stripped by colonists. Despite this, Simons would rise to become the trusted lieutenant and bodyguard to General George Washington at Valley Forge, the crossing of the Delaware, and throughout the Revolutionary War. Considering that the Pokanoket name had been outlawed, Simeon Simons never revealed his true Pokanoket identity. Simons’s portrait can be found in Griswold (CT) Town Hall and a depiction of him riding horseback side-by-side with George Washington appears on the town’s bicentennial coin.