Ponkapoag
Ponkapoag, also Punkapaug, Punkapoag, or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "praying town" settled in the western Blue Hills area of eastern Massachusetts during the colonization of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States by settlers from Britain in the 17th century. It is the name given to the winter residence of the group of Massachusett who lived at the mouth of the Neponset River near Dorchester in summer. Ponkapoag is now contained almost entirely by the town of Canton, Massachusetts. The name is derived from a nearby pond south of Great Blue Hill; Ponkapoag means "shallow pond" or "a spring that bubbles from red soil".History
Ponkapoag Plantation was established in 1657 as a town parcel formed from Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was the second Christianized native settlement, or "Praying Town" in Massachusetts, after Natick was established in 1651. In 1654 members of the Nemasket Tribe located in the village of Cohannet in current day Bristol County were among the first Native Americans relocated as part of King Philip's War to Ponkapoag. From 1657 to his death around 1670, Quashaamit served as a teaching minister in Ponkapoag, and also deeded large parcels of land in modern day, Mendon, Milford, Braintree, and North Smithfield.
The Massachusett still live within their territory today.
