Four Kings and a Queen: Part IV - Etowaucum
This article is the final installment in our series exploring the lives of the “Four Indian Kings” who visited Queen Anne in London in 1710. This time we will be examining the life of Nicholas Etowaucum. Etowaucum - 1710 portrait by John Verelst Etowaucum was a member of the Mohican Turtle Clan. The Mohicans are one of several groups who were known to the European settlers at that time as the River Indians. It is unknown when, where, and by whom Etowaucum was baptized with the name Nicholas (also Nicus, or Nickus), but he had this name prior to 1710. [2, p. 66] At that time, he was probably living at Schaghticoke with his first wife, a Mohican woman, and their two daughters. By 1712, he had taken another wife, a Mohawk woman named Margaret, also called Griete. It is unclear if his first wife had died, or if the couple had simply parted ways, as local Native American cultural traditions allowed divorce to be a relatively informal process at this time. Etowaucum & ...
