Description
The Tunxis were a group of Connecticut Native Americans that is known to history mainly through their interactions with English settlers in New England. More locally they were one of a number of Native communities in the lower Connecticut River Valley who shared common cultural traits. In 1634, shortly after English colonists migrating from the Massachusetts Bay Colony moved into the region, a smallpox epidemic swept through the region, killing many of the natives; the Tunxis people would have been as affected as the other groups.
Language
Quiripi
Culture
Until 1759, the Tunxis controlled a tract of land in Farmington and attracted Wangunk, Siacog, and Quinnipiac people to their settlement. The Tunxis lived as a largely agricultural community, farming corn, beans, and squash, as well as hunting and fishing in the Pequabuck and Farmington Rivers in an area called “Indian Neck” by the English. Some English and enslaved people from Africa also lived in the Tunxis community. Tunxis women were traders, clothing makers, healers, and political leaders. Some of these roles differed from those of English women.