Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck

Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (estimated 1644 – 1666) was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University.

Life Cheeshahteaumuck, the son of a Nobnocket (West Chop) sachem, was born into the Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard, where he received a formal education. He and his classmate Joel Hiacoomes were taught on the Vineyard by Peter Folger, the maternal grandfather to Benjamin Franklin.

The two went on to attend Elijah Corlet's grammar school in Cambridge in around 1657.

Harvard and death Cheeshahteaumuck and Hiacoomes both entered Harvard's Indian College in 1661.

One document remains from Cheeshahteaumuck's time at Harvard which he purportedly wrote, Some consider this to be the earliest extant writing by a Native American on the North American continent.

The Harvard Foundation unveiled a portrait of Cheeshahteaumuck on December 16, 2010, in the Annenberg Hall, painted by Stephen E. Coit.

Legacy Cheeshahteaumuck is the title character in Geraldine Brooks' book of historical fiction Caleb's Crossing.