Samson Occom (1723 – July 14, 1792) was a Mohegan clergyman and writer born near New London, Connecticut who converted to Presbyterianism and became a cleric. Occom was the second Native American to publish his writings in English (after son-in-law Joseph Johnson (Mohegan/Brothertown) whose letter to Moses Paul, published April 1772, preceded Occom's by 6 months), the first Native American to write down his autobiography, and also helped found several settlements, including what ultimately became known as the Brothertown Indians. Together with the missionary John Eliot, Occom became one of the foremost missionaries who cross-fertilised Native American communities with Christianized European culture.

Born to Joshua Tomacham and his wife Sarah, Occom is believed to be a descendant of Uncas, the notable Mohegan chief. According to his autobiography, at the age of 16 or 17, Occom heard the teachings of Christian evangelical preachers in the Great Awakening. He began to study theology at the "Lattin School" of Congregational minister Eleazar Wheelock in 1743 and stayed for four years until leaving to begin his own career. In addition to improving his English, Occom learned to read and speak Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. As a young man, the only book he owned was the Bible. From 1747 until 1749, Occom worked under and studied with the Reverend Solomon Williams in New London, Connecticut.

Occom became a teacher, preacher, and judge among the Montaukett Native Americans in Montauk, eastern Long Island, and married Mary Fowler, a Montaukett woman. Occom helped some of the Pequot people he worked with assimilate and adopt European-style houses, dress and culture.

He was officially ordained a minister on August 30, 1759, by the presbytery of Suffolk. Occom was never paid the same salary as white preachers, although promised he would be. The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge also gave Occom a stipend for some time, but he lived in deep poverty for much of his life.

In 1761 and 1763, Occom traveled to the Six Nations of the Iroquois in upstate New York to preach. Winning few converts, he returned to teach at Mohegan, Connecticut, near New London. Occom mediated the conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans due to his familiariity with colonist culture and through Occom's missionary work he was recognized as a leader that strengthened Native American relations.

Wheelock had meanwhile established an Indian charity school in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1754 with a legacy from Joshua Moor (among others). Upon Occom's return to Mohegan, Wheelock persuaded his former pupil to travel to England to raise money for the school. Occom sailed from Boston December 23, 1765, and did not return until May 20, 1768. He preached his way across Britain from February 16, 1766, to July 22, 1767, delivering between 300 and 400 sermons, drawing large crowds wherever he went, and raising over £12,000 for Wheelock's project. King George III donated 200 pounds, and William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, subscribed 50 guineas. However, Occom on his return learned that Wheelock had failed to care for Occom's wife and children while he was away. Furthermore, Wheelock moved to New Hampshire and used the funds raised to establish Dartmouth College (named after the English earl) for the education of the sons of American colonists, rather than Native Americans as had originally been promised to Occom. Even 200 years later, the college had graduated less than 20 Native American students.

In 1764, Occom opposed the sale of tribal lands and was involved in the “Mason Controversy,” a long lasting dispute over land between the colonists and the Mohegans. The Mohegans formed an alliance with the Mason family to plead a case for the governor of Connecticut to give back the lands to the Mohegans. When Occom came back to Mohegans, he expressed his support for the Mason family and the Mohegans which caused the missionaries to make threats such as taking away his preacher's license and to stop financing his missionary work. Some colonists also started to spread negative rumors about Occom, suggesting that he was an alcoholic who had converted to Christianity just for show. In a 1769 letter, Wheelock wrote to Occom about a rumor about Occom being an alcoholic. The rumor hurt Occom's reputation after Occom's success in fundraising money in England. Wheelock suggested that Occom truly did not care for Christianity.  The stereotype of the drunk Indian was projected onto Occom and undermined his missionary work. Wheelock benefited from the defamation of Occom as Wheelock regained his authority. Wheelock's letter further put forth the concept of fake conversion onto Occom and that Occom was not to be trusted as a preacher.

In 1768, Occom wrote A Short Narrative of My Life, a ten-page manuscript now held in Dartmouth College's archive collection; however, it was not published until 1982. The document expands upon a single-page biography that Occom wrote before his preaching tour of England and Scotland. Occom also published Sermon at the Execution of Moses Paul and A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1774. All of these documents provide a very different perspective on the relations between colonists and Native Americans from Mary Rowlandson's narrative of her captivity in similar areas a century earlier.