History and Genealogy of the
Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut
The Suckiaug Indians belonged to the Sequins, a general tribe which included not only the Suckiaugs, but Matianucks, or Windsor Indians; the Hockinums living on the east side of the Connecticut, where East Hartford now stands, and the Podunks, scattered along the Podunk River (Podunk means "place of fire") lying between what is now South Windsor and East Hartford. The chief sachem of these clans was Sowheag who sold land to the planters of Wethersfield, and the sachem of the Suckiaugs was Sequassen, the son of Sowheag. Some years prior to 1633 the Pequots had conquered the Sequins to which the above clans belonged. The Dutch purchased of the Pequots; the English of the Sequins, the ancient owners; "and in so doing, they declared their opinion that the subjugation of this tribe by the Pequots did not give to the conquerors the rights of ownership in the river lands." Lord Saye and Sele wrote in 1642 that the Pequots had no just but a usurped title." (Holland Documents, I, 128.)
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