Name: Claudia Arevalo-Lowe

Date: November 17, 1998

It is rumored that Thanksgiving started when in 1620 the Native Americans offered the Pilgrims food as they were lacking the essentials. Even though this story may not be true and it has been romanticized, what it is truth is that one of the first tribes the pilgrims came in contact with was the Wampanoag tribe under the leadership of Chief Massasoit. The new arrivals made many mistakes in their dealings with the Native Americans and among them is what Massasoit’s descendants believed to be one of the worst. However, the mistakes made by the European arriving in the New World date back to Columbus.

Upon arrival to the New World, the Spaniards started the conquest by changing the original names of the tribes they encountered and thus justifying some of their actions. The names were distorted to their phonetic sounds and therefore Europeans started labeling the tribes according to what the newly arrived aliens considered their reluctant hosts to be. To add to the misconceptions about the owners of the "newly discovered" continent, in the 1600s, other Europeans such the English, French and Dutch reached the same conclusions and made the same mistakes as their predecessors.

The invaders, the newly arrived and their next generations further degraded not only the names of the indigenous people but their tribes’ as well. For example, "Nadowessioux" was the phonetic French version of what later became known as the "Sioux." The French version of the name meant ‘snakes and enemies’ when in reality the tribe called themselves "Dakota" meaning ‘friends or allies.’

As a way of setting up the picture for what is yet to come, before European arrival, it is estimated that "40 to 60 million people lived in the entire hemisphere" and of those 40 to 60 million "perhaps 500,000 lived along the eastern coastal plain." It is understandable that the Native Americans started to resent the newly arrived, not only because they had begun their association by changing their names but also because the Native Americans’ numbers started to diminish as a result of the illnesses the foreigners brought with them. Among these 500,000 people living in the eastern seaboard was the Wampanoag Tribe, which was a part of the eastern culture area and spoke the Algonguian-Ritwan language. Their territory was from the Eastern Shore of Narragansett Bay in the Atlantic coast and from the Natucker area to Martha’s Vineyard.

Under the guidance of Chief Massasoit, the Wampanoag Tribe had expanded to about 30 villages. Massasoit, who was born approximately in the year 1580, had two sons: Wamsutta and Metacomet who has also been referred to as Metacom. Chief Massasoit was a good leader, believed in peace and in good relations not only with other tribes but with the settlers as well. It is rumored that this is the tribe that celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. Massasoit’s philosophy of peace and harmony between the tribes and the settlers was among the lessons his sons learned, and even though they did not agreed with them, they followed his leadership and his example until the day he died. In later years, of his two sons, the youngest, Metacomet, upon reaching his twenty-fourth birthday was considered a great orator, a wise man, and with a great future. To the people of Massachusetts Metacomet was known as King Philip.

Metacomet was born in 1638 in the area that became known as Massachusetts. Before his birth in 1620, his father Massasoit and Governor John Carver of Plymouth had signed the earliest treaty in the history of New England establishing peace between Massasoit’s people and the pilgrims. Years later, and as proof of his loyalty to the English, the Chief of the Wampanoag requested from the General Court in Plymouth that his two eldest sons be given English names. The court agreed and named Wamsutta, Alexander; and Metacomet, Philip. As per the English, the names were given to two youngsters in memory of two ancient kings of Macedonia.

Upon Massasoit’s demise in 1661, the responsibility to lead the tribe rested upon Alexander who continued his father’s tradition of good relations with the settlers even though he did not share his father’s trust in the Englishmen. He chose to rule his people independently from English rules. He believed that the English way of ruling would eventually led to the corruption and demise of his people. As a result of his actions, he was summoned to Plymouth’s court to show his loyalty. When he refused to abide by the Court’s rules he was humiliated, incarcerated and died mysteriously, even though the official version was that he died of fever.

As a consequence of the death of Alexander, Philip at age twenty-four became the Sachem. Despite his youth, the people accepted and respected him. To the new Sachem, Philip, the death of Alexander was no accident. He was determined to seek revenge not only for the death of his brother, but also because the Englishmen were taking some of his supplies without his permission. The English were not only taking his lands, killing the game for fur but were also a bad influence for his people, and above all had humiliated and killed his brother. For thirteen years he patiently worked towards unifying all tribes. He was not successful. When 1675 arrived there were 40,000 whites in New England and only 20,000 Native Americans left. He knew that the white men would not rest until they had taken over the entire seaboard territory. Philip was determined to stop the white men on their conquest, and if he could not stop them the least he could do was to create enough hardship for them that it would be very difficult, long and tedious to recover from his harassment and attacks.

To add salt to the injury, Philip started to suffer a series of humiliations under the settlers’ laws and in 1671 he was forced to surrender his guns and accept a treaty that made his people subject to English laws.

After this incident, Philip addressed his people:

The situation deteriorated even further as the settlers continued to encroach on his lands and continued the raids on his villages. By 1765, the Sachem had formed an alliance with the Narragansett, Abnaki, Nipmuck and the Mohawk with the purpose of declaring war on the settlers. The final stroke came in January 1765, when Philip’s trusted aid, John Sassamon, went into Plymouth to inform the authorities about Philip’s plans. Sassamon was a Native American who had been educated at Harvard. Sassamon’s reasons for betraying his sachem and his people were never known as he was killed a few days after his betrayal.

Even though it was never proved that Philip or his people killed Sassamon, Plymouth’s court was quick to blame the Native Americans for the death of Sassamon and one of the consequences to his death was that three of Philip’s warriors were captured and tried for the murder. Philip argued, to no avail, that white men had no jurisdiction over red men. Finally, on June 8 the three warriors were hung. Week and a half after they were hung, Philip and his warrior mounted the first attack on the settlers. The warriors came out of Mount Hope and started to kill cattle. However, a young settler fired and wounded one of the warriors, thus, giving Philip the excuse he needed to mount one of the bloodiest wars in the history of what became known as the United States of America: King Philip’s War. By June the 21^st eleven English had perished.

The news of this massacre spread rapidly throughout the colonies. From Boston and Connecticut a militia was sent to aid in the battle against Philip. The militia arrived at the peninsula of Narragansett forcing Philip and his people to retreat to Mount Hope. He rapidly moved west, and taking advantage of the chase took the militia to territory belonging to the rattlesnakes. This development forced the militia to retreat. Church who was commanding the militia was upset by the actions of his men. His comment was that his men " were more afraid of the rattlers than the black Serpents they were in quest of." No one knows from where Philip and his warriors launched the attack that forced the militia to retreat to Mountain Hope. Even though he was not winning the war, his deeds reached the tribes that were still not a part of the alliance he had created and based upon his victories joined him.

Philip wanted to trust fear in the colonists’ hearts but underestimated his enemies. The colonists had survived what may have seemed insurmountable odds and had continued with their growth and expansion. The colonists’ attack on December 19 signaled a decisive point of the war.

Three thousand Indians under Canonchet, Narragansett’s Sachem, were inside of a fort that surrounded and protected their village. The colonists found a way to get inside through a hole on the fort and the massacre took place. The colonists killed as many men, women and children as they found. However, the sachem and his warriors were not in the area and the colonists missed them. This episode served to fuel even further Philip and his allies’ desires for revenge. Philip gave the order to "burn every house, destroy every village, kill every white man." The Native Americans put town after town under the torch, devastated Rhode Island and burned sixteen houses in Plymouth. In New England, the Native Americans destroyed 12 of the 90 white settlements.

In April of 1765, Philip’s greater ally, Canonchet, was captured and sentenced to death. Philip became despondent and his warriors still more so. One by one his followers left and Awanshonks, squaw sachem of the Sokonnets, dispatched one of his men to go meet with Church. The offer was simple, the Sokennets would give Church Philip’s position and thereby his head. In exchange the Sokennets asked for Church and the militia to leave them alone. Church found Philip on a swamp and killed or captured 173 Wampanoags, including Philip’s uncle and adviser. His wife and son were captured and sold into slavery. Philip escaped and continued on the run. One of his men advised him to make peace with the English. In response, Philip ordered him killed. Alderman was one of Philip’s men and the brother of the man Philip had ordered killed. As revenge for his brother’s death, Alderman performed the last betrayal Philip would ever know. Alderman went to Church and promised him to take him to King Philip.

On August 11, 1676, eighteen white men and twenty-two native Americans headed towards King Philip’s camp. Under Church’s direction an ambush was set up and at dawn, the surprise attack started. As expected by the English, the Native Americans in the camp scattered and fled. One Native American in particular was getting away and Church misfired his weapon. Alderman, the traitor, had a double barrel gun and he fired three shots hitting the Native American who fell down. Alderman approached the body and when he turned the body around he discovered that it was King Philip. King Philip was beheaded. His head was in display at Plymouth for twenty-five years thereafter. King Philip’s head symbolizes the typical head on a pike.

King Philip was a very interesting man. He learned from childhood that white men were not to be trusted but followed his father’s teachings until the death of his brother. Upon the death of Wamsuta, Philip decided that it was time to stop the white men from destroying his people.

As in every war, Philip found that there are traitors. Unfortunately, it was too late when the lesson was learned. There is the possibility that the root of his defeat was not only that he had no real plans for his attacks, but that revenge ruled his heart and the Native Americans’ hearts in general. From the moment the New World had been invaded, revenge was on top of the Native American’s priority list. It was a bitter time for them; therefore, they became bitter men. Their thirst for revenge had no bounds. It applied to friends and foe alike.

Even though this is considered the bloodiest battle in the history of this nation, it prepared the settlers for one of the most important wars yet to come: Independence from England. The death of King Philip not only gave the settlers the satisfaction that one of their worst enemies was dead, but it reassured them that gaining possession of the Native American lands was a right they have earned. As time would prove, this mentality started to expand to other territories and to other peoples.

As for Philip’s wife and son, it is not known what happened to them. By 1990, 2175 people claimed to be Wampanoag descendants. The number of people claiming to be Wampanoag descendants may have increased in the last eight years and the numbers may be greater. However, it is uncertain as to what impact the life and war of Philip has made on the Native Americans and white men alike.