Since it was founded in 1893, Brookline High School’s monthly student newspaper has been called The Sagamore. According to a 1999 article in the Daily Times Chronicle, “sagamore” is an anglicized version of sagamo, a word the Penobscot Nation of Maine used for their chiefs. In early volumes of The Sagamore, a quote from John Winthrop’s Journal, “There being ten Sagamores and many Indians at Muddy River,” was printed under the masthead. With Winthrop being one of the first settlers of Boston, this could have been one of the earliest writings to mention Brookline. However, the story of how the first staff chose to name it the Sagamore remains a mystery, as they did not print an explanation in the first issue. We on staff think it’s important to know what this name means instead of blindly taking it for granted. We are proud to honor the history of the first inhabitants of Brookline.

Aaron Sege can be contacted at [email protected].