Although they shared a similar L-dialect and other common customs, very little evidence is shown of any confederation except for the various skirmishes with English colonists that ultimately led to King Philip's War.

At the time of the first visits by John Prescott, the minister appointed to the tribe by the colony, power had been passed from Sachem Nashawhonan (Sholan) to Nanomocomuck (Monoco), a Pennacook chieftain descended from Passaconaway.

The Nashaway have left their imprint in many hydronyms and topographical features, such as the Sholan area of Leominster, the city and river known by "Nashua", and Mount Wachusett.

During King Philip's War, the Nashaway sachem (chief) Monoco kidnapped a Lancaster villager, Mary Rowlandson.

She later wrote a best-selling narrative about her captivity, forced journey from Lancaster northwest to the Connecticut River, and eventual release at Redemption Rock in present-day Princeton, Massachusetts.