The
Oxford English Dictionary found a use from 1613. The term "Sagamore" appears in
Noah Webster's first An American Dictionary of the English Language published in 1828, as well as the 1917 Webster's New International Dictionary.[7]
One modern source explains:
According to Captain
John Smith, who explored
New England in 1614, the
Massachusett tribes called their kings "sachems" while the
Penobscots (of present-day
Maine) used the term "sagamos" (anglicized as "sagamore"). Conversely, Deputy Governor
Thomas Dudley of
Roxbury wrote in 1631 that the kings in the
bay area were called sagamores, but were called sachems southward (in
Plymouth). The two terms apparently came from the same root. Although "sagamore" has sometimes been defined by colonists and historians as a subordinate lord (or subordinate chief[8]), modern opinion is that "sachem" and "sagamore" are
dialectical variations of the same word.[9]
The "great chief" (Southern New England
Algonquian: massasoit sachem) whose aid was such a boon to the
Plymouth Colony—although his motives were complex[22]—is remembered today as simply
Massasoit.[23]
Moby Dick by
Herman Melville (published in 1851), includes a passage: " [...] where the loose hairy fibres waved to and fro like the topknot on some old Pottowattamie Sachem's head".
The 1838 poem "Sachem's-Wood"[24] by James Abraham Hillhouse (son of United States Senator
James Hillhouse) describes the demise of the free sachem and his people.
Rick, the protagonist of
Simon Spurrier's novel, The Culled (2006, book 1 of
The Afterblight Chronicles), belongs to the
Haudenosaunee people and is guided through crises by the sachem. Another character, named Hiawatha, saves Rick's life and advises him the
Tadodaho have said Rick and Hiawatha's courses are "aligned".[25]
In the book "To Shape a Dragon's Breath" by Moniquill Blackgoose, the leader of the fictional Masquisit people is referred to as a "sachem".[26]
One of the oldest weekly newspapers in Canada is called The Grand River Sachem. It has been publishing since 1856 and is located in
Caledonia, Ontario.[27]
"Sachem" was a title adopted by leaders of the Tammany societies, notably in
Tammany Hall in New York City. The eponymous
Tammany was a sachem of the
Lenape. A fraternal society arose out of the Tammany societies which was named the
Improved Order of Red Men, and to this day two of their national officers are known as the "Great Senior Sagamore" and the "Great Junior Sagamore".[28]
In the 1940s, the legislature of
Indiana created the honorary title of "
Sagamore of the Wabash", analogous to
Kentucky Colonel. In 1996, the government designated "Sachem of the Wabash" as a higher honor.[29]
^
abGoddard, Ives (1978). "Eastern Algonquian languages", in "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 75
^"sakima". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from
the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
^Bobbish-Salt, Luci et al. (2004–06). Northern EastCree Dictionary. Cree School Board.
^Neeposh, Ella et al. (2004–07). Southern EastCree Dictionary. Cree School Board.
^MacKenzie, Marguerite and Bill Jancewicz. (1994).
Naskapi lexiconArchived 2008-05-27 at the
Wayback Machine. Kawawachikamach, Quebec: Naskapi Development Corp.