The New International Encyclopædia/Ninigret
NINIGRET (c.1610-c.1677). A sachem of an Algonquian tribe of Indians, the Niantics. He assisted the English colonists in the Pequot war of 1637, but soon afterwards began to scheme for their expulsion or extermination. A visit to the Dutch on Manhattan Island in 1652-53 caused him to be suspected of plotting against the United Colonies, whose commissioners, in April, 1653, declared war against him, but were unable to prosecute it, owing to the opposition of Massachusetts. Ninigret, however, soon attacked the Long Island Indians, allies of the English, and the commissioners, after summoning him in vain to Hartford, sent Major Sanuiel Willard against him with a force of 310 men. Ninigret took refuge in a swamp, but subsequently (1662), in conjunction with several other chiefs, sold a large part of his territory to the colonists. Several of his successors from whom land titles were secured by Rhode Island were also called Ninigret.