Young, William R. Connecticut Valley Indian. Springfield, MA: Museum of Science, 1969.
Young presents important connections between individual tribes/bands and larger native “nations” or loose groups. The Massacoes, and Tunxis, are placed within the Mattabesec-Wappinger group, one of the nine main Algonquian sub-tribes. Young’s conclusions help to imagine the socio-economic relationship these loosely related bands around Simsbury must have had with one another.
Walwer, Gregory Frank. Native American Mortuary Practices. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 1998.
Walwer studied archaeological evidence that gave details about the burial rituals of natives in Connecticut east of the Connecticut River. Although not directly related to the Farmington River Valley natives specifically, Walwer’s findings distinguish finds about general burial trends that might have in fact been more widespread than his region of study. The author’s analysis on burials over the course of thousands of years includes inferences about what this indicated of social society at certain times.
Spiess, Mathias. The Indians of Connecticut. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1933.
Mathias writes about Connecticut natives in pre-contact times in relation to dominating outside tribes, and then describes the history behind the different English settlements in the Connecticut and Farmington River Valleys. The author tries to connect each tribe, and is one of the only authors so far who have claimed the Massacoe had absolutely nothing to do with the Tunxis natives.
Roberts, George S. Historic Towns of the Connecticut River Valley. Schenectady, NY: Robson & Adee Publishers, 1906.
In this book, one can find a description of the histories of mostly every major town in the Connecticut River Valley. Roberts specifically provides the history of Farmington and Bloomfield, which used to be called Wintonbury, and included parts of Simsbury. The author mentions an Indian Deed of 1660 that describes the land as wilderness.
Guilette, Mary E. American Indians in Connecticut: Past to Present. Aetna Life and Casualty, 1979.
In her book, Guilette gives an overview of tribes and customs in Connecticut throughout time. The author does a great job at providing information about population estimates in Connecticut at the time of settler-native contact, distinguishes between the different tribes of Connecticut and then describes native ways of life.
Banks, Marc. “Aboriginal Weirs in Southern New England”. ASC Bulletin 53 (1990): 73-83.
Bancs writes a brief, yet informative essay about what fishing weirs are, how they were used, and how they were built in pre-contact and post-contact times. The essay provides details on known locations of old weir sites, what natives might have caught and the complexity of finding the ruins of an old weir today.
Trocchi, Jim. Connecticut Indians. Windsor Historical Society.
Trocchi writes informatively about the natives of the Farmington Valley, and in Connecticut. Included are details about types of food, housing structure, language, individual tribes and possible sites in the Northwest corner on Connecticut.
Stiles, Henry R. The History of Ancient Windsor. Vol. 1. Hartford, CT: Press of the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard, 1891.
Stiles’ lengthy work includes not only the history of Windsor, but also the histories of all areas that surround Windsor in the Connecticut River Valley. Stiles includes important and useful quotes from letters and court decisions related to the settlement of Simsbury, and the natives in that territory.
Speck, Frank G. Native Tribes and Dialects of Connecticut. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1928.
Speck provides a very important explanation on native language in Connecticut. Although the Massacoe are not directly mentioned, they instead are lumped in with the Tunxis. Speck describes that Northwestern Connecticut tribes, such as the Massacoe, would have spoken the r-dialect.
McMullen, Ann. Native Basketry, Basketry Styles, and Changing Group Identity in Southern New England to Algonkians of New England: Past and Present. Boston, MA: Boston University Press, 1993.
McMullen does not specifically mention Simsbury or the Massacoe natives, but does write an important article on basketry west of the Connecticut River. The author delves into how baskets had been crafted, and the difference in basket making depending on tribe or region.