The word sachem, of Algonquian origin, was used among some northeastern tribes to refer to their leaders. In contrast to chiefs, who were chosen for their skill in battle or oratory, sachems held hereditary, civil positions and ruled by consensus. Their responsibilities included the distribution of land, the dispensation of justice, the collection of tribute, the reception of guests, and sometimes the direction of war or the sponsoring of rituals. Only the rare sachem, such as Tispaquin, the "Black Sachem" of Assowampset, was also a shaman. Among the Narragansetts, sachems held sway over villages, which formed the basic political, territorial unit of the society. Villages were governed by a pair of patrilineally related older and younger sachems. Leaders among other northeastern tribes were sometimes also called sachems, but their authority was shared in a council, and some were appointed.
Most sachems were men, but many women are known to have been sachems as well. The most famous of the female sachems was the Narragansett sachem Quaiapen, also known as Magnus or Matantuck. In addition to establishing her own sachemdom after she was widowed in 1658, Quaiapen was the sister, wife, and mother of several other Narragansett sachems. Rumors among white colonists of her marriage in 1649 to the sachem Mixanno aroused fear of an Indian conspiracy. That fear took on a new form in 1675, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony went to war against the Wampanoag sachem Metacom, whom white called King Philip. In an attempt to limit Philip's resources, the Bay Colony called on the Narragansetts to swear neutrality. When the Narragansetts failed to turn over any Wampanoag refugees, they too came under attack. Quaiapen was killed on July 2, 1676, in a battle with Major John Talcott's troops in a swamp near Nipsachuck; killed with her or captured in that battle were 171 of her followers.
The last of the Narragansett sachems was George Sachem, who ruled in the early nineteenth century. In keeping with its preference for employing Indian words, the infamous New York City political machine Tammany Hall called its local leaders sachems. But after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Narragansetts took the title back when they reincorporated their tribe and restored the ancient office.
