Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. Massasoit means Great Sachem. Massasoit was not his name but a title. English colonists mistook Massasoit as his name and it stuck.
Sculpture of Ousamequin in Mill Creek Park, Kansas City, Missouri by Cyrus E. Dallin
Massasoit smoking a ceremonial pipe with Governor John Carver in Plymouth, 1621
Meeting of Governor Carver and Massasoit
The Palace of Massasoit
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages. Some sources indicate the sagamore was a lesser chief elected by a single band, while the sachem was the head or representative elected by a tribe or group of bands; others suggest the two terms were interchangeable. The positions are elective, not hereditary. Although not strictly hereditary the title of Sachem is often passed through the equivalent of tanistry.
Statue of Daniel Nimham, a sachem of the Wappinger.