The Legend of Metawampe - Amherst, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 23.443 W 072° 31.590
18T E 703597 N 4696122
A sculpture of Chief Metawampe, the legendary symbol of the University, is located outside the Integrated Learning Center on the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA.
Waymark Code: WM12RXC
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/09/2020
Views: 0
A sculpture of Chief Metawampe depicts a figure of a Native American with his left foot perched on a 3' high rock. He is holding a rifle vertically in his right hand. The granite base is inscribed:
METAWAMPE
LEGENDARY SPIRIT OF THE REDMEN
GIVEN BY THE CLASS OF 1950
ERECTED BY THE CLASS OF 1956
When the University of Massachusetts in Amherst became the flagship university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the search was on for an appropriate mascot. Since the Metawampe hike to Mount Toby was a longtime campus tradition that began in 1908 when the University of Massachusetts was an Agricultural College, the name Redmen was to selected in 1947 to honor the legendary Chief Metawampe. Legend was that Metawampe, as the chief of the local Nonotuck Native Americans, sold land North of Mt. Toby to the British settlers of Hadley, MA. At the time Amherst was part of Hadley.
In 1972, as Native American mascots became controversial, the mascot of the University was changed to the Minutemen. Nonetless, sculpture of Metawampe was preserved as an reminder of the history of the University.