Awashonks

Who is Awashonks?

Awashonks was a female sachem of the Sakonnet tribe in Rhode Island. She lived near the southern edge of the Plymouth Colony, not far from Narragansett Bay. Near what is now Little Compton, Rhode Island. In the mid-seventeenth century her lands were claimed by the English settlers of Plymouth Colony. While she had allied herself to the English to increase her power, ironically their victory eroded her standing among both the English and the Saconet. Awashonks is known for her special talent for negotiation and diplomacy, which helped include the Sakonnets among a tiny handful of natives who received amnesty from colonists.