Awashonks Awashonks ( also spelled Awashunckes , Awashunkes or Awasoncks ) was a female sachem ( chief ) of the Sakonnet ( also spelled Saconet ) tribe in Rhode Island . She lived near the southern edge of the Plymouth Colony , not far from Narragansett Bay . Near what is now Little Compton , Rhode Island . In the mid - seventeenth century her lands were claimed by the English settlers of Plymouth Colony . While she had allied herself to the English to increase her power , ironically their victory eroded her standing among both the English and the Saconet . Awashonks is known for her special talent for negotiation and diplomacy , which helped include the Sakonnets among a tiny handful of natives who received amnesty from colonists . Awashonks as Sachem . Awashonks became sachem not by inheritance , but through quality of leadership . She is often referred to as a squaw - sachem , which emphasizes the fact that she is female . During her tenure , she was challenged by both rivals within the Saconet as well as English colonists . Plymouth Colony . Awashonks was not pro - English until July 1671 , when Plymouth leaders called her and other Indian leaders to a meeting and threatened to send an army to fight them if they refused to attend . Awashonks signed the “ Articles of Agreement ” , in which she agreed to surrender guns and Saconet who were accused of inciting trouble . The agreement was also signed by Totatomet and Somagaonet , witnessed by Tattacommett , Samponcut and Tamoueesam ( alias , Jeffrey ) , and July 24 , 1671 . Not long after , in August , Awashonk ' s men signed a paper approving what she had done in accordance with the agreement ; only 3 names are known : Totatomet , Tunuokum , Sausaman . On October 20 , 1671 Governor Prince wrote to her , saying that he had received the list of names , and assuring her that the English would befriend her . Awashonks made appearances in the Plymouth court system . In 1674 Mammanuah , a Saconet rival who may have been her son , accused Awashonks of assault . After he had tried to sell land to English settlers , Awashonks ordered men to tie him up and threaten him . The court ruled in Mammanuah ’ s favor , possibly to appease the English land buyers . However , the court , out of respect to Awashonks , reduced her fine to only 5 pounds rather than the 500 pounds that Mammanuah demanded . King Philip ' s War . By 1675 , the relationship between the English and the Wampanoag were more tense than ever . Metacomet ( also known as King Philip ) was trying to build military coalition to go to war against Plymouth settlers . Metacomet sent six men to visit Awashonks and convince her to side with him in the fight against the English . The men told her that if she did not , Metacomet would send his men to kill the colonists ' cattle and burn their houses on her side of the river - making it appear as if one of her people had committed the crime . Awashonks sent for Benjamin Church ; when he arrived there were hundreds of people present and Awashonks was leading a ceremonial dance . Awashonks stopped to see Church , who told her that it was not true that Plymouth was preparing for war ( as Metacomet ' s men had told her ) . Benjamin Church advised Awashonks to go to the Governor of Plymouth and join with the English . In part because of aid from leaders such as Awashonks , the English defeated Metacomet in King Philip ' s War . Trials . In 1683 Awashonks was called before the Plymouth court , she was accused of helping to kill an infant born to her daughter , Betty . She and Betty convinced the court that the child was born dead , but Betty was found guilty of fornication . The court reprimanded Awashonks for having had a woman whipped for announcing Betty was pregnant . This case exemplifies the important changes in native authority structures , as English leaders undermined the very native rulers they had helped to create . Legacy . Awashonks appears in official records of New England more than any other native woman . A boulder was erected in Wilbur Wood , Little Compton , Rhode Island in the late nineteenth century , during a period of romantic interest in Awashonk ' s story . The engraving reads , " In memory of Awashonks Queen of Sogkonate & friend of the white man . "