Description
The Podunk were a Native American people and lived primarily in what is now known as Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. English colonists adopted use of a Nipmuc dialect word for the territory of this people. The Podunk are likely the Hoccanum people. Podunk is of Algonquian origin, meaning "where you sink in mire", or a boggy place, in the Nipmuc dialect. The Podunk people called their homeplace Nowashe, "between rivers." This tribe lived in territory near the mouth of the Park River at its confluence with the Connecticut River. The Dutch called these waterways the Little River and Great River, respectively. English colonists entered the Connecticut River valley around 1631. They called the local people the River Tribes.
Language
Algonquian Quiripi
Culture
Like other Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, the Podunk built their summer lodges near the river. They fished for shad and salmon, and lampreys in their season. The men hunted deer and bear, as well as small game. The women cultivated and processed varieties of maize and beans, as well as drying the meats and preparing skins. They used the furs of otter, mink, and beaver for clothing, and used other hides to cover their wigwams. In winter they moved to inland campsites. In the winter, they ate dried venison and bear meat. Their tools, artifacts, and other archeological evidence have been found along the rivers and in the highlands.