Tunxis

The Tunxis were a group of Connecticut Native Americans that is known to history mainly through their interactions with the English settlers. Broadly speaking, their location makes them one of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of Northeastern North America, whose languages shared a common root; their particular language sub-group is known to linguists as Quiripi. More locally they were one of a number of Native communities in the lower Connecticut River Valley who shared common cultural traits. In 1634, shortly after English colonists migrating from the Massachusetts Bay Colony moved into the region, a smallpox epidemic swept through the region, killing many of the natives; the Tunxis people would have been as affected as the other groups.