Hiacoomes

Hiacoomes
Born	1610s Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States
Died	1690 Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, US
Nationality	Wampanoag
Known for	First Wampanoag to convert to Christianity

Hiacoomes (1610s?-1690) was a Wampanoag American Indian from the island of Martha's Vineyard (now in Dukes County, MA) who in 1643 became the first member of his society to convert to Christianity under the tutelage of the missionary Thomas Mayhew Jr. He would then, with the assistance of Mayhew, become a leading preacher to his fellow Wampanoag on the island, playing a major role in the widespread conversion of the Wampanoag from their traditional beliefs to Christianity.

Little is known of Hiacoomes’ early life except that he was of 'mean' descent and described as “a man of a sad and sober spirit” who had a low ranking in the then existing social hierarchy of the Wampanoag. In 1639 the first English settlement of the island, under the direction of Thomas Mayhew Senior, had begun at Edgartown. Hiacoomes took an unusual interest in these newcomers and eventually began to form relationships with some of the English with whom he visited in their houses and they in his wigwam. He even attended religious meetings, where he managed to catch the curiosity of Thomas Mayhew Junior (1618?–1657), son of the island's governor and local pastor to the English. Seeing this curiosity, the younger Mayhew invited Hiacoomes to his house each Sabbath evening where the soon-to-be missionary to the Indians would teach and instruct his native charge in the doctrines and ideas of Puritanism. Under his direction, Hiacoomes became a professed Christian, learning how to read in the process. A letter reference dating from 1651 puts him at that moment as about 30 years of age, so if that is to be believed then Hiacoomes at this stage would have been in his early-to-mid 20s.

At first Hiacoomes mostly faced opposition from his fellow Wampanoag, some of whom mocked him and called him "an English man". Opposition from sachems to this English innovation was widespread. However, in 1646 an epidemic hit the island devastating the native population, following a similar epidemic which had occurred three years earlier. It is estimated that about half of the native population of the island perished in these plagues. But Hiacoomes and his family were unaffected. That, and the use of cures by Thomas Mayhew Junior, gave a medical appeal to Christianity in a place where traditional shamanism had failed. This interest was transferred to a group of sachems, led by Miohqsoo and Towanquatick, who invited Hiacoomes to a meeting six miles away late at night where he was to discuss his religion with these sachems. The records of this discussion are described in Experience Mayhew's Indian Converts:

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