NAUSET

also called Cape Indians an Algonquian-speaking Indian tribe that occupied most of what is now Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. The Nauset probably came into contact with whites at an early date because of their location, and Samuel de Champlain is known to have encountered them in 1606. Their subsistence was probably based on fishing, but they are also known to have cultivated corn (maize) and beans. They were semisedentary, moving between fixed sites with seasonal changes in food resources. Although hostile to the Plymouth colonists at first, the Nauset became their friends, supplying food to the starving colonists in 1622. Most Nauset remained loyal to the settlers throughout King Philip's War. Many converted to Christianity before the war, and by 1710 all were organized into churches. In that year many died of fever, and by 1802 only four Nauset were said to survive. Other Indian tribes, however, driven from their own territories, had joined the Nauset, and a number of mixed descendants survive.