On December 21, 1620, a group of 102 English settlers disembarked from their ship, the Mayflower. The settlers came to be known as Pilgrims, and they were seeking a new life in the New World. The Mayflower landed in Plymouth Bay of what is now present-day Massachusetts. The Pilgrims established a colony nearby called Plymouth. Legend has it that the Pilgrims first set foot in the New World on a large, granite boulder that is now known as Plymouth Rock. While there is no proof of this, the gigantic rock stands high enough on the Plymouth Bay shoreline that, at the very least, the Pilgrims must have surely noticed it.
When the Pilgrims arrived, they found no Indians, but there was much evidence that Indians had once lived there. The winter of 1620 was harsh and difficult for the Plymouth colony, as one-half of the residents died from either disease or starvation. Then, in the spring of 1621, Indians appeared and greeted the colonists. The Pilgrims were shocked to find that some of the Indians spoke English. The Indians explained they had learned it from English fishermen who occasionally visited the area.
The Indians told the settlers of a great plague that had swept through the region several years earlier, killing virtually everyone. (Most likely, the plague was an Old World disease unwittingly spread by the English fishermen.) An Indian named Squanto described how the outbreak destroyed his tribe. In 1614, Squanto had been kidnapped and taken aboard an English ship to Spain, where he was sold as a slave. He eventually escaped and made his way back to his homeland, only to discover that all of his friends and family were dead.
Squanto befriended the Pilgrims and helped them endure those difficult early months. He taught them how to grow corn and showed them the best places to fish. Squanto also demonstrated how fish could be used to fertilize the soil and produce more corn. Without Squanto’s assistance, the Plymouth colony might not have survived. Within a year, however, it was flourishing.
The Pilgrims learned of an Indian celebration held each year at harvest time and decided to celebrate it, too. They invited the local Indian chief, Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag Nation, and his people to join in the festivities. For three days, the Pilgrims and the Indians feasted, played games, held contests, and gave thanks. Today, we continue to observe that same holiday—Thanksgiving.
The initial friendship and goodwill between the two cultures lasted for about 40 years. By 1662, however, thousands of new settlers had arrived and were encroaching on the Indians’ hunting grounds. These newcomers did not have the same appreciation and respect for Indian ways that the Pilgrims had shown. The settlers forced their religion and government on the Indians, who became resentful. The sachem(chief) at that time, whom the English called King Philip, had seen enough. He quietly contacted other sachems and planned an uprising against the settlers.
THE ART OF WAR
Native American cultures had been fighting with one another long before the arrival of white people. Territorial disputes over hunting grounds or similar quarrels were often the cause of such conflict. However, to Indians, war was simply a means of settling an argument with a rival tribe; it was never intended to obliterate them. Many Indian cultures considered combat a sacred ritual, and it was carried out with honor and respect.
An Indian battle usually resulted in fewer casualties than a traditional European battle. Regardless, there were two Indian customs that shocked the Europeans. The practice of scalping, or cutting the skin and hair off a victim’s head, and the torture of enemies captured in battle, led white observers to think of Indians as savages. Interestingly, there are many recorded instances of whites performing these very same acts.
Europeans discovered that Indian battle tactics were much better suited to the forests of America than the tactics practiced in the open fields of Europe. The Indians were masters of using trees and bushes for cover, lying in ambush, and then fleeing after a quick strike on the enemy. Europeans looked on this strategy as dishonorable, but American Revolutionaries later used it extensively against British troops in the War for Independence.
The Pilgrims and the Wampanoag celebrate the first Thanksgiving at the Plymouth colony in present-day Massachusetts. If not for the help of friendly members of the Wampanoag tribe such as Squanto, the English settlement in New England probably would have failed.
King Philip’s War began in June 1675. Tribes throughout New England assaulted and burned dozens of settlements. Terrified colonists scrambled for safety as the Indian attacks continued. At first, English attempts to stop the attacks were unsuccessful, but as time wore on and the Indians’ food supplies dwindled, the tide of war shifted. Within a year, English militiamen were hunting down the Indians. Those captured were sold into slavery, including King Philip’s wife and their nine-year-old son, who were sold into slavery in the West Indies. Shortly afterward, King Philip was shot and killed. His revolt against the English had failed.
A colonial leader rallies the men of Hadley, Massachusetts, during an attack by King Philip’s braves in 1675.
WHAT IS WAMPUM?
Native American cultures did not have coins or paper money the way we do today. They used small, shiny seashells that could be strung together. These shells were called wampum, and they were a critical part of Indian society.
Wampum was more than just money to the Indians. It was used for jewelry, gifts, and for communication. When council chiefs met to discuss an important issue, a belt made of wampum was used to record their decisions. A red wampum belt meant the chiefs had decided to go to war, while a white belt meant they had voted for peace. Wampum belts were kept in a public building, and Indians could learn their tribe’s history just by studying the belts.
While Europeans did not understand the significance of wampum, they did know that Indians would gladly trade for it. Europeans thought the Indians were foolish for trading beaver pelts and other valuables for mere seashells. Indians thought the Europeans were foolish for exchanging large amounts of precious wampum for such common items. Eventually, Europeans learned to manufacture high-quality wampum, using glass beads instead of seashells. They even went so far as to open a wampum factory in what is now present-day New York.
King Philip had attempted to preserve his people’s way of life through war. Other Native American cultures tried to preserve their way of life through peace and diplomacy. The Iroquois Confederacy, perhaps above all, understood the effectiveness of peaceful negotiation. The Iroquois Confederacy was an alliance of five tribes: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. A sixth tribe, Tuscarora, was later admitted to the alliance, and the Iroquois Confederacy also became known as the Six Nations. This was a strong matrilineal society, and each tribe controlled its own section of the alliance’s territory, which stretched from the city of Quebec in Canada all the way down through New York and into northern Pennsylvania.
The Iroquois Confederacy dominated the Great Lakes region long before the arrival of white people, and would continue to dominate the area long after. Aside from their size and their strength, the Six Nations knew how to deal with Europeans. Negotiations would be held with white leaders, and wampum would be exchanged as a sign of peace. During these talks, the goal of the Indian leaders was always to acquire as many trade goods as possible in exchange for the absolute minimum of tribal land.
The leaders of the Six Nations also recognized that there were divisions among the white men. English and French settlers, for example, were bitter rivals. The Iroquois did not hesitate to take advantage of these rivalries. When war would break out between two white factions, the Iroquois often remained neutral and profited by trading goods with both sides.
The Iroquois Confederacy flourished throughout the 17th and much of the 18th centuries, using careful diplomacy and clever trading tactics. Although they lost many citizens to conflict and European diseases, just like other Native American cultures, the Six Nations remained strong by accepting refugees from tribes whose homelands had been taken over by the settlers.
Ironically, the alliance was ultimately destroyed by a war between white men. The war was the American Revolution, and in this conflict, the Iroquois found it impossible to remain neutral. The Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes supported England, while the Oneida and Tuscarora tribes sided with the American colonists. The Iroquois Confederacy had been split in two, never to be reunited again. §
The Wampanoag chief Metacomet, called King Philip by English colonists in New England, led a bloody war against the European newcomers during the 1670s. However, the English were able to defend their settlements against the Indian attacks. Metacomet was killed by a British soldier in 1676.
