The Sagamore Chapter was the only chapter in the state organized during the NSDAR Diamond Jubilee.  It was organized to fulfill a need for evening meetings in Johnson County, Kansas.  Until this time, all chapter meetings were during the day hours.  

The chapter was organized in Leawood, Kansas, on April 18, 1965, by Mrs. Vera Greenlease.  Mrs. Vivian Brown was organizing regent, with eighteen charter members.  These eighteen members selected the chapter name from several historical names.  Sagamore, meaning Indian Chief, was chosen.   After acceptance by the National Society, it was officially adopted as the chapter’s name.

SAGAMORE is taken from the Indian word Sa (n) g Ma (n). It is the Abnaki name for the chief, or ruler, of a tribe.  Through the years, it has had many different spellings and pronunciations: Sogomo, Sagomo, and Sagamour, to name a few.  In the form of government of the Indians in Massachusetts, the supreme ruler of a territory was called the Sachem.  The territory was made up of a number of tribes governed by lesser Sachems, called "Sagamores" by the early Colonists of Massachusetts.  For the head Sachem, or chief, the dignity was hereditary but the dignity of the Sagamore was elective.  The Sagamore was usually elected from a prominent family within the tribe.  Source:  Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick W. Hodge, 1971, Vol. II, Pages 401 & 408.

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