coastal plain along the southern side of Massachusetts Bay in what is now eastern Massachusetts. Major watersheds in Massachusett territory included the Charles River and the Neponset River. The Pennacook lived north of the Massachusett tribe, the Nipmuc to the west, Narragansett to the southwest in Rhode Island, and Pokanoket, now known as Wampanoag to the south. Anthropologist John R. Swanton wrote that their territory extended as far north as what is now Salem, Massachusetts, and south to Marshfield and Brockton. He wrote later they claimed lands in the Great Cedar Swamp (near present-day Lakeville), previously controlled by Wampanoag. By the 1660s the Massachusett moved into praying towns, such as Natick and Ponkapoag (Canton). Swanton lists the following: Massachusett settlements. Divisions Massachusett people settled in villages; however, these were organized into larger bands. Swanton writes about six major bands named for their sachems or leaders. Chickatawbut, later led by his son Wompatuck and subsequent heirs, additional region/band led by Obtakiest; Massachusett territory south of the Charles River and west of Ponkapoag Pond Nanepashemet, south of the Charles River. His territory was divided between his three sons: Winnepurkit, Deer Island and Boston Harbor Wonohaquaham, Winnisimmet and Saugus Montowampate, Massebequash and Lynn Manatahqua, around Nahant and Swampscott Cato, east of the Concord River Nahaton, around the area of Natick Cutshamekin, around Dorchester, Sudbury, and Milton.<ref>Swanton, 'The Indian Tribes of North America, p. 19.</ref> The appointment of guardians to administer the assets of the Praying Indians and represent them before the colony in 1743 ended the authority of local chiefs and the last vestiges of traditional tribal organization. Language The Massachusett language, () ), was an important language of New England as it was also the native language of the Wampanoag, Nauset, Cowesset and Pawtucket people. Due to its similarity with other closely related languages of the region, a simplified pidgin of it was also used as a regional language of trade and intertribal communication. By the 1750s, Massachusett was no longer the predominant language of the community and by 1798, only one Massachusett elder of advanced age spoke the language at Natick. Factors that led to the decline of the spoken language include the rapid rates of intermarriage with non-Indian spouses outside the speech community in the mid-18th century, the need for English for employment and participation in general society, the lack of prestige regarding the Indian language and the dissolution of