Ninigret Salt Pond

History

Did you know the Niantic Tribe, like many people, had both summer and winter homes?

During the winter, the Natives needed the protection from the strong winds and battering waves commonly associated with New England's coastal storms. They moved inland for the protection provided by the fur and deciduous trees. There they built their homes, wigwams, of circular sapling frameworks, and covered them with woven grass, bark, and skins.

In the spring, when the weather conditions improved, the Natives traveled toward the coast and established summer camps because there temperatures were cooler due to the off-shore breezes. The shore of Ninigret Pond was the site of such a camp. The Niantics and the Narragansetts took advantage of the abundant supply of shellfish and animals available to them at Ninigret Pond. They seined the pond to gather fish and collected oysters, quahogs, soft shelled clams, mussels, scallops, and surf clams. The fish catch was then left to dry on rocks or wooden frames and stored for the winter season in clay pots.

(Photo courtesy of Plimouth Plantations website. See Resource section for web address.)