Connecticut Water Trails Association
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Connecticut Water Trails Association |
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Connecticut Water Trails Program
History Of Connecticut's Water Trails
Native Americans
The
Pootatuck
The Pootatuck were an aboriginal tribe that existed during and prior to
colonial times in Western Connecticut, eventually amalgamating with Weantinock and other indigenous people to form
Schaghticoke in Western
Connecticut.
Location
Western Connecticut
Name
Connecticut Village Locations
New Fairfield, Newtown, Sherman
Local legend goes back to the time centuries ago when the land was ruled
by Chief Waramaug (Lake Waramaug)
of the Pootatuck tribe of western Connecticut.The respected chief was
known for his huge hilltop headquarters overlooking the
Housatonic River.
Waramaug's daughter was named Lillinonah. One winter's day, the legend has
it, as she was walking in the woods high above the river, she saw a
handsome white man stumbling and falling. He obviously was sick. She
helped him get to her village where she slowly nursed him back to health.
Of course they fell in love. And of course the chief did not approve when
they asked his permission to marry. Lillinonah pouted as lovers do and
refused nourishment. By the end of summer the once beautiful daughter was
sickly. Waramaug yielded.
But then the young man, whose name apparently is not recorded, needed to
tell his people that he survived the winter, would be marrying an Indian
maiden and would live with the Pootatucks.
He would return the next spring, he pledged Lillinonah. She is said to
have adorned herself with wild flowers waiting for his return. And
waiting. And waiting. Autumn arrived but the white man did not. Trying to
cheer his daughter, the chief arranged a marriage to Eagle Feather, a
promising young man of the Pootatuck tribe. Lillinonah was not cheered.
She went to the shore of the Housatonic, surging from autumn rains, got
into a canoe and pushed off into the embrace of the current.
The canoe moved swiftly to the dangerous falls of the river; Lillinonah
threw away her paddle. Then suddenly she saw the man she loved high on the
rock jutting over the river. He had returned!
He saw her, called her name, and she stood in the canoe waving for help.
Without hesitation, he leaped from the precipice in hopes of saving her.
Lillinonah's canoe struck a rock and capsized. He swam to her and they
held tight to each other. And in that embrace, they disappeared in the
falls and hurtled to their deaths.
Legend has it that when their bodies were found they still were holding
each other. Chief Waramaug buried them together on the top of the hill
overlooking the Housatonic River.
But our legend lives on with the portion of the Housatonic River that
widens named Lake Lillinonah.
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