Native People of Scituate

Roger Williams purchased land and got a deed from the native people who lived near the beautiful Moswansicut Pond in 1638. It is believed by historians and Scituate residents that this may have happened at Council Bowl. Council Bowl is where the people native to the land had meetings because the land was shaped like a bowl and the bottom always stayed dry. This perfect oval was naturally hollowed out 15 to 20 feet into the ground. At one time, Council Bowl was lined with stone. The bowl was also protected from the wind.

There is a legend told about the Council Bowl. The story says that the first white woman came to Scituate. She was captured by natives and tied to a stake. When they let her go, no white woman was seen near Scituate again for 20 years!

The native people of Scituate called Scituate “Satuit” which means “cold brook”. In this area lived the Nipmuc, Narragansett, and Moswansicuts. “Moswansicuts“ was how locals referred to the Nipmucs in this region. These native people of Scituate farmed corn, tobacco, and beans. The soil here was rich and good for growing things. Tasca Field in North Scituate was once a native people’s. Nipmucs were also fishermen and hunters. Scituate had a lot of fish and deer as well as other animals.

Native people once lived in dugouts in the Tunk Hill Road area. They sent smoke signals that could be seen from as far away as Fall River, Massachusetts. Fires were built on the top of a giant granite rock known as “Indian Rock”. Indian Rock is about 35 feet high and 90 feet around. It is the largest unbalanced rock in Rhode Island, left on the hilltop by a glacier long ago.

Indian Rock was a popular tourist spot before the reservoir was built. People came from all over Rhode Island to see Indian Rock and picnic there. Around 1900, you could see Providence from the top of the rock because there were no trees then and less pollution. When the reservoir was built, Providence Water Supply people wanted to blast the rock but the townspeople of Scituate raised such a commotion that it was kept as it is and is still on reservoir property today.

The Nipmucs in Scituate were known to be friendly and traded with the white men. They were sometimes hired to do jobs like building stone walls. Nipmucs might take their corn to a Scituate grist mill to have it ground into flour. They were known to get their hair trimmed in Trimtown.

There is only one tragic story known about a native man who lived back in 1757. A white man named Thomas King and a native man named John Absalom were friends. John Absalom was at a local husking bee when he was teased about his long hair by Nathaniel Phillips. John threatened to get even with Nathaniel. John waited outside, looking for the man wearing “white stockings” to kill him. John stabbed the man wearing white stockings, and killed him, but it wasn’t Nathaniel Phillips. It was his friend Thomas King that he killed by mistake. John Absalom was taken to court, found guilty, and hanged. Most of the meetings between the native people and the settlers were positive.

Today Scituate students get special permission from Providence Water and visit Council Bowl and Indian Rock to learn about the native people that lived in Scituate. History is important!

Below are photographs from the field trip.

Council Bowl

Moswansicut Lake

Native people once used this area as their corn field.

Indian Rock

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© 2017 Paula DiLuglio