What is "hobomok"

Hobomok, a tale of Early Times is a novel by the nineteenth century American author and human rights campaigner Lydia Maria Child. Her first novel, published in 1824 under the pseudonym "An American", was inspired by John G. Palfrey's article in the North American Review. It is set during the colonial time period of King Philip's War, and, among other themes, it relates the marriage of a recently immigrated white American woman, Mary Conant, to the eponymous Native American, her widowing, and her attempt to raise their son in white society.

The subject of miscegenation being taboo, the book initially fared poorly. An early review in the North American Review called the story "unnatural" and "revolting to every feeling of delicacy." However, before too long (and partly due to Child's intervention in Boston literary circles), many prominent Bostonians celebrated the novel. Child was later active as an abolitionist, feminist and supporter of Native Americans.