Highannough (Iyannough)

Highannough (Iyannough) ( - )


	Statue of Iyannough, in downtown Hyannis, Massachusetts

Name:	Highannough (Iyannough)
Sex:	Male
Father:	-
Mother:	-

Individual Events and Attributes

Birth		Cape Cod, Barnstable Co, Massachusetts
Occupation		Sachem (chief) of all Cape Tribes

Marriage

Spouse	Daughter of Ruling Sachem of Gay Head ( - )
Children	John "Iyannough" HYANNO (1595?-1623)

Individual Note 1

Iyannough (also Iyanough) was a Native American sachem and leader of the Mattachiest (Mattakeese) tribe of Cummaquid in the area of what is now Barnstable, Massachusetts. The village of Hyannis, the Wianno section of Osterville, and Iyanough Road (Route 132) are all named after him.

Historic records mention the assistance and entertainment offered by him and his tribe towards the Pilgrims and later colonists. When the son of Mayflower passenger John Billington wandered away from the new settlement at Plymouth in January 1621, Iyannough assisted William Bradford and his party in finding the boy.[1] The sachem impressed the Pilgrims as being personable, gentle, courteous, and fair-conditioned.[2]

He died in 1623 when he was only in his mid-twenties. Following a surprise attack by the Pilgrims on the Massachusett tribe that winter, many Native Americans in the region including Iyannough grew fearful of the colonists and fled to hide in the area's swamps and remote islands.[3] It is believed that Iyannough himself died of exposure during this time. Upon his early death his lands went to his eldest son Yanno [4] (aka John Hyanno). Yanno is mentioned in several land deeds on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard and appears to have been a prominent figure in the early settlement of the communities.

In the mid 19th century, a farmer plowing his field discovered what is believed to be Iyannough's grave.[5] The gravesite is just north of Route 6A in the Cummaquid section of Barnstable and is maintained by a non-profit organization called "Tales of Cape Cod." A sign along Route 6A marks the spot.

A statue of Iyannough can be found today on the village green in downtown Hyannis.

SOURCES:

1 Philbrick, Nathaniel (2006). Mayflower. New York: Penguin Group. pp. 110–112. ISBN 0-670-03760-5.

2 Willison, George F. (1945). Saints and Strangers. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock. pp. 228–229.

3 Philbrick (2006) pp 154

4 "Opinion: January 11, 2002 - The Barnstable Patriot" (page), BarnstablePatriot.com, webpage: [1]

5 "Guidebook Cape Cod ~ Barnstable" (page), GuidebookAmerica.com, webpage: [2]¹

Individual Note 2

Iyanough was a participant in the First Thanksgiving with the pilgrims and often extended hospitality to them. When hostilities arose with the English and particulary the pilgrim Myles Standish, Iyanough fled to the swamps and died of illness.

There is a bronze statue of Chief Iyannough at the Village Green

on Main Street in Hyannis, MA. It was believed that the town was named after this chief, but evidence now suggests the town actually took its name from his son John Hyanno, who was involved in deeding land to the early settlements. Much of the confusion arose because of the numerous spellings employed at the time. The same person's name might be spelled three, four, five, six different ways in the records. In fact, the town of Hyannis was spelled numerous ways before 1800, including Jannos, Iyannos, Hyannos, Hyanos and Hianna.

Iyannough's grave was discovered in 1960 and is now maintained off Mass. Rte. 6A in Cummaquid by a non-profit organization called "Tales of Cape Cod."

"...[T]he pinnace sailed south past Plymouth to the bottom of Cape Cod Bay, dropping anchor off Cummaquid, a name retained by one of the shore villages in the township of Barnstable. They were well received by Iyanough, the local sachem, whom the Pilgrims had met and been so impressed with the year before. A young man in his twenties, he was 'personable, gentle, courteous, and fair-conditioned; indeed, not like a savage save for his attire. His entertainment was answerable to his parts, and his cheer plentiful and various.' So it was again, and Iyanough undertook to gather as large a supply of provisions as the Cummaquid could spare." -- George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers, (New York: Time Incorporated, 1964, pp 228-229)

"The English sent their war captain Myles Standish, Hobbamock and some others to help the new English. Standish picked a fight with a Massachuset pniese named Pecksuot and killed him with his own knife, while others killed his companion Wituwamet and after which they hanged Wituwamet's teenage brother. Wituwamet's head was placed on a pole above the Plymouth fort in the barbaric custom of the English. These events so alarmed the Massachuset and others of the People who had been talking about attacking the English that many fled for their lives. Some became ill and died in hiding, including Canacum, sachem of Manomet; Aspinet, sachem of Nauset; and Ianough (from which the town of Hyannis gets its name) of Mattachiest." --Bruce Cox

From: [email protected]

Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 15:33:01 -0700

Subject: [Barss/Bearse/ie/ce] Iyannough

To: [email protected]

Dear Friends:

I have been asked to post what I believe to be the line of the Sachim Iyannough based on what I have been taught by oral tradition and family genealogies. This information may not be entirely correct but should be viewed as oral history and open to your judgments. I do not propose to be the best authority, but please bare with me as I explain what I believe to be true. The Wampanoag people were a confederation of southern New England tribal groups, separate from each other, but with a common language and cultural base. At the time of the first English in the early 1600's there were over 60 different tribal groups within the confederation. Mary Hyanno was Mattachee also sometimes called Cummaquids, Chawmun or Shaumes. The word Mattachee translates to "place of worn planting fields." The area around Barnstable was called Mattachee/Mattachiest, with the Yarmouth area known as Mattakeeset. The Mattachee were under authority of a local leader (Iyannough) but also pledged themselves to Ousamequin, the Massasoyt at Pokenoket who was in power over much of the area. The Mattachee were closely related to the Nauset people who were located further up the Cape and who often did not join in the Wampanoag confederation. My oral tradition:

1. Highyannough: Old Cape Sachim, father of Iyannough, said to have married daughter of Canonicus, Narragansett Sachim.

2. Iyannough: Young Sagamore at Cummaquid, father of John Hyanno and Mary Hyanno. Said to have married Mary, aka Mary Nopee who was daughter of Martha's Vineyard Sachim. He was accused of being a conspirator with Massachusett people to overthrow the English. He went into hiding in swamps on the Cape and died of sickness the year of his daughters birth, along with the Sagamores Coneconam of Manamet and Aspinet of Nauset.

3. John Hyanno: Brother of Mary Hyanno and Sachim at Cummaquid and also on Martha's Vineyard, (mother's connection).

4. Mary Hyanno, daughter of Iyannough, granddaughter of Highyannough, brother of John Hyanno.

My belief is:

Highyannough 1554 to 1641 died at 87 yrs.

Iyannough 1595 to 1623 died at 28 yrs.

John Hyanno 1620 to 1680 died at 60 yrs.

Highyannough, Iyannough, and John Hyanno are sometimes confused and combined with each other. Iyannough died in the swamps at a very young age of 28 or so, the same year of his daughters birth. Mary was raised by her grandfather and later her brother until taken in marriage by Austin Bearce in 1639 at about 15 or 16 years of age. In the early days of the English 1621 to his death in 1623 Iyannough would have not been given the Christian name of John as some say, as there was no missionary contact on the Cape in those early times. His son and daughter were most likely given Christian names of John and Mary after his death when the English became more established on the Cape. The grandfather who died in his late 80's is the most likely source of the land given to Austin. The grandson, John Hyanno with other variations of his name, became the leader in the area and also is shown on deeds of land on the Cape as well as on Martha's Vineyard where he died in 1680. Historical birth and death dates do not indicate that the three men could have been one in the same. Thank you for your kindness, "Nunocksuk Matannash" (There are many stars) iootash [:ITAL] --courtesy of Alice Raven

USE OF THE WORD “SACHEM”

“Chief” was used by western tribes. “Sachem” was used by east coast tribes. The pilgrims invented the term “Chief Sachem” to describe the head Sachem over all the lesser Sachems.

Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush are descendants.

Notes on this website are authored by Larry Overmire, unless noted otherwise. Permission of the author is required to reproduce elsewhere.

SOURCES:

1) Bruce Cox Database

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET &db=bcox2899&id=I6070

2) Who our Forefathers really were, Franklin Bearse

3) Alice Raven Database

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET &db=raviac&id=I10304

4) Saints and Strangers, by George F. Willison, New York: Time Incorporated, 1964, pp 228-229

5) Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Web Pages

6) Tales of Cape Cod, from Cape Cod Times, June 17, 1999

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/archives/1999/june/17/tales1 7.htm

7) There's more to know about Iyanough (Yanno?), by Jennifer Longley, from The Barnstable Patriot

http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/01-04-02-news/yanno.html

8) Insider's Guide to Cape Cod (info about Iyannough's grave)

http://www.insidecapecod.com/main-attractions3.htm

9) David Lewis Sculpture, photo of Iyannough's statue

http://www.dlewis-sculpture.com/gallMonument.htm

10) Dave Lewis Website

http://www.galleryatfourindia.com/info/artists/lewis.html

11) Bust of Iyanough by Dave Lewis

http://www.dlewis-sculpture.com/gallNative.htm

12) E-mail from researcher and Native American genealogical expert Mary Hilliard, [email protected] or [email protected], 7 Dec 2004²

Individual Note 3

Sachem of Wampanoag Ihyannough

Birth: Hyannis,Barnstable Co.,Massachusetts

m: of Canonicus

Children:

John Hyanno (1595-) m. Mary No-Pee (ABT 1600-) , children: 1. John Hyanno (ABT 1620-AFT 1661), 2. Mary Hyanno (1625-).

Maxanno m. Quaiapen

http://chrisman.org/pedigree/out60.htm

Sources

¹	"Wikipedia". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyannough.

²	"rootsweb.com". http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=glencoe&id=I14236.