Pequots

I'm not a fan, so I don't really do much with that either.

So you've got Election Day, then you've got a holiday celebrating war and veterans, and then Thanksgiving, which is essentially a holiday that began as a celebration of giving thanks after massacring the Pequots and others, Native people, by the pilgrims.

After all the conversations that you teach your little kids in school about happy little pilgrims and happy little Indians, eh, not so much.

So that's Thanksgiving.

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the pequot war which was carried on by connecticut with a few men from massachusetts and a number of mohican allies ended in the complete overthrow of the pequot nation and the extermination of nearly all its fighting force it began in june sixteen thirty seven with the successful attack by captain john mason on the pequot fort near groton and was brought to an end by the battle of fairfield swamp july thirteen where the surviving pequots made their last stand sassacus the pequot chieftain was murdered by the mohawks among whom he had sought refuge and during the year that followed wandering members of the tribe whenever found were slain by their enemies and mohegans and narragansetts an entire indian people was wiped out of existence an achievement difficult to justify on any ground save that of the extreme necessity of either slaying or being slain the relentless pursuit of the scattered and dispirited remnants of these tribes admits of little defense the overthrow of the pequots opened to settlement the region from saybrook to mystic and led to a treaty in sixteen thirty eight with the mohegans and narragansetts according to which harmony was to prevail and peace was to reign but the outcome of this impracticable treaty was a five-year struggle between the mohegan chieftain uncas actively allied with the colony of connecticut and me antonimo sachem of the narragansetts which involved connecticut in a tortuous and often dishonorable policy of attempting to divide the indians in order to rule them a policy which led to many embarrassing negotiations and bloody conflicts and ended in the murder of me antonimo in sixteen forty three by the mohegans at the instigation of the commissioners of the united colonies this alliance between uncas and the colony lasted for more than forty years it placed upon connecticut the burden of supporting a treacherous and grasping indian chief it created a great deal of confusion in land titles in the eastern part of the colony because of indiscriminate indian grants it started the famous mohegan controversy which agitated the colony in england also and was not finally settled until one hundred and thirty years later and it was in part at least a cause of king philip's war because of the colony's support of the mohegans against their traditional enemies the narragansetts and the antics the presence of the indians in and near the colonies rendered frequent dealings with them a matter of necessity the english settlers generally purchased their lands from the indians paying in such goods or implements or trinkets as satisfied savage need and desire in so doing they acquired as they supposed a clear title of ownership though there can be no doubt that what the indian thought he sold was not the actual soil but only the right to occupy the land in common with himself as the years wore on the problems of reservations trade and the sale of firearms and liquor engaged the attention of the authorities and led to the passage of many laws the conversion of the indians to christianity became the object of many pious efforts and in massachusetts and plymouth resulted in communities of praying indians estimated in sixteen seventy five at about four thousand individuals in contact with the white man the indian tended to deteriorate he frequented the settlements often to the annoyance of the men and the dread of the women and children he got into debt was incurably slothful and idle and developed an uncontrollable desire to drink and steal where the indians were not a menace they were a nuisance and the colonies passed many laws concerning the indians which were designed to meet the one condition as well as the other but the real danger to new england came not from those indians who occupied reservations and hung around the settlements but from those who with savage spirit and broken were slowly being driven from their hunting-grounds and nurtured an implacable hatred against the aggressive and relentless pioneers the new englanders numbered at this time some eighty thousand individuals with an adult and fighting population of perhaps sixteen thousand while the number of the indians altogether may have reached as high as twelve thousand with the narragansetts the strongest of all mustering four thousand the final struggle for possession of the main part of central and southern new england territory came in sixteen seventy five and what is known as king philip's war scarcely had the fears aroused by the arrival of a dutch fleet at new york and the capture of that city been allayed by the peace of westminster in sixteen seventy four when rumors of indian unrest began to spread through the settlements and the dread of indian outbreaks began to arouse new apprehensions in the hearts of the people

hitherto no

indian chieftain had proved himself a born leader of his people neither sesequem sassacus ponemon uncas nor meontanemo had been able to quiet tribal jealousies and draw to his standard against the english others than his own immediate followers but now appeared a sachem who was the equal of any in hatred of the white man and the superior of all in generalship who was gifted both with the power of appeal to the younger indians and with the finesse required to rouse other chieftains to a war of vengeance philip or metacombe was the second son of old massaswat the long-time friend of the english and upon the death of his elder brother alexander in sixteen sixty two became the head of the wampanoags with his seat at mount hope a promontory extending into narragansett bay believing that his people had been wronged by the english particularly by those of plymouth colony and foreseeing that he and his people were to be driven step by step westward into narrower and more restricted quarters he began to plot a great campaign of extermination on june twenty fourth sixteen seventy five a body of indians fell on the town of swansea on the eastern side of narragansett bay slew nine of the inhabitants and wounded seven others though assistance was sent from massachusetts and plymouth the burning and massacring continued extending to rehoboth taunton and towns northward the settlements were isolated before the troops could reach them their inhabitants were slain cabins were burned and prisoners were carried into captivity the rhode islanders fled to the islands elsewhere settlers gathered in garrisoned forts and blockhouses and in new forts hastily erected though the authorities of connecticut and massachusetts sent agents among the nipmucs hoping to prevent their alliance with philip the effort failed and by august the tribes on the upper connecticut had joined the movement and now began a determined and systematic destruction of the settlements in central new england the famous massacre and burning of deerfield took place on september twelfth the surviving inhabitants fleeing to hatfield leaving their town in ruins hatfield northfield springfield and westfield were attacked in turn and though the defense was sometimes successful more often the defenders were ambushed and killed so widespread was the uprising that during the autumn a desultory warfare was carried on as far north as falmouth brunswick and casco bay where at least fifty englishmen were slain by members of the sacco and androscoggin tribes as yet the narragansetts bravest of all the southern new england indians whose chief was canajet son of the murder m'antonimo had taken no part in the war but as rumor spread that they had welcomed philip and listened to his appeals and were probably planning to join in the murderous fray war was declared against them on november two sixteen seventy five and a force of a thousand men and horse from plymouth and massachusetts was drawn up on dedham plain under the command of general josiah winslow and captain benjamin church on december nineteenth the greater part of this force aided by troops from connecticut fell on the narragansetts in their swamp fort south of the present town of kingston and after a fierce and bloody fight completely routed them though at a heavy loss the tribe was driven from its own territory and connaughtship fled to the connecticut river where he established a rallying-point for new forays his followers allied themselves with the wampanoags and nipmucs and began a new series of massacres in february and march sixteen seventy six they fell upon lancaster where they carried off mrs rowlandson who has left us a narrative of her captivity upon medfield where fifty houses were burned and upon weymouth and marlborough which were raided and in part destroyed repeated assaults in other quarters kept the western frontier of massachusetts in a frightful condition of terror settlers were ambushed and scalped others were tortured and many were carried into captivity even the pennacooks of southern new hampshire were roused to action though their share in the war was small here a hundred warriors sacked the village their indians skulking along trails and on the outskirts of towns cut off individuals and groups of individuals shooting scalping and burning them no one was safe again the commissioners of the united colonies met in council and ordered a more vigorous prosecution of the campaign more troops were levied and garrison posts fortified but the first results were disastrous captain pierce of scituate was ambushed at blackstone's river near and his command was completely wiped out sudberry was destroyed in april and a relieving force escaped only with heavy loss but the strength of the indians was waning cunanchet run to earth near the potuxas river was captured and sentenced to death and his execution was entrusted to oniko the son of uncas his head was cut off and carried to hartford and his body was committed to the flames the loss of cunanchet was a bitter blow to philip who now saw his allies falling away and himself deserted by all but a few faithful followers the campaign at last well in hand and directed by that prince of indian fighters benjamin church now commissioned a colonel by general winslow was approaching an end using friendly savages as scouts colonel church gradually located and captured stray bodies of indians and brought them as captives to plymouth finally coming on the trail of philip himself he first intercepted his followers and then relentlessly pursuing the fleeing chieftain from one point to another tracked him to his lair at his old stronghold mount hope there the great chief who had terrorized new england for nearly a year was slain by one of his own race his ornaments and treasure were seized by the soldiers and his crown gorget and two belts all of gold and silver of indian make were sent as a present to charles the second with the death of philip august twelfth sixteen seventy six the whole movement collapsed and the remaining hostile indians dispersed and in flight with their leaders gone and starvation threatening sought refuge among the northern tribes thus the last effort to check the english advance in southern and central new england was brought to an end from this time on the indians in massachusetts rhode island and connecticut lingered for a century and a half a steadily dwindling remnant wards of the governments and occupants of reservations until they ceased to exist as a separate people

And what particularly makes the Puritans look bad today in the eyes of the world is the Mystic Massacre.

In 1637, word had reached the Puritans that the Pequot Indians were planning to attack them.

As had the pilgrims before them, the Puritans decided they would attack the Indians first.

So, one night, Captain John Mason led a band of Puritan soldiers as they stole upon a Pequot village near the Mystic River in Massachusetts.

The village itself was protected by a palisade fence, a barrier made of pointed sticks.

The Puritans, who were accompanied by Indian allies, surrounded the Pequot village and Then some of the Puritan militia slipped through the gate.

They began slaughtering the sleeping Indians at random.

Then Captain Mason grabbed a burning stick and threw it on the roof of one of the huts.

Okay, go ahead.

In 1643, Mohegan Chief Uncas executed Pequot Chief Mayantinoma right by this rock.

The slain Pequot's body was also never seen again.

Today, the cave is still there and is known as Squaw Cave after Oney and her story.

Now, whether it's just the wind blowing by the cave opening like a glass bottle or moans and cries still echoing from the tragic past is unknown.

Yeah.

Because that was a tribe.

So it's a little bit fuzzy why this, like, you don't call a town like Mohegan or Pequot.

Both were already in the colony when the code was adopted.

Pequot captives had been shipped out after the war of 1637, some to the Caribbean, and in 1638, a Massachusetts ship, the Desire, brought enslaved Africans into Boston.

And furthest from that opening, from that door, stood the people whose land New England's meetinghouse were built on.

Before dawn, May 26, 1637, a force from Connecticut and Massachusetts under John Mason and John Underhill, with Mohegan and Narragansett allies, surrounded the fortified Pequot town near the Mystic River and set it on fire.

Underhill published his own account in London the next year.

There were, he wrote, about 400 souls in the fort, and not above five of them escaped out of our hands.

His fellow commander, John Mason, later put the Pequot dead that day at around 600 or 700.

He expected readers to object, and he answered them.

The Joshua conquest narrative gives us a model of divinely commissioned extermination.

The Puritans, stepping off their ships onto Wampanoag and Pequot land in the 1620s, went straight to Joshua.

This was not an accident.

It was a choice, and a theologically sophisticated one at that.

The earth is given to all the saints, and we are the saints." The circularity of that argument is breathtaking.

We are God's people, therefore, the land is ours, therefore, we are right to take it.

After the Pequot massacre at Mystic in 1637, English militia burned the village and killed nearly all inside, including women and children.

A military captain was asked whether Christians should show more mercy and compassion.

Yeah, so it's the matric- in the maternal line, then the blood quantum, and then the band votes whether or not your lineage is acceptable.

The Mashantucket Pequot nor the Mohegan tribe grants membership based on living on a reservation or self-identification as a Native American.

Membership is determined by documented lineal descendant under each tribe's own constitution and ordinances.

For the Pequot, applicants must prove descent from one of the specific families listed on the 1900 or 1910 U.S. census of the reservation.

The tribe closed enrollment in 1996.

Wow.

With the only ongoing exception for children born to already enrolled members.

This rule has excluded some people with documented earlier Pequot an- ancestry, whose family left the reservation before those census years.

He was able to help facilitate contact and trade, but he would also inflame the tensions by playing his own power politics between himself and Massasoit would eventually demand the English hand over Squanto to be killed, and their refusal to do so would strain these kinds of relations.

However, there wouldn't be a major conflict until the Pequot War, and the Pequot were heavily resented by the Narragansett and the Mohegan due to their aggressive pushes for territory and control and kind of subjugating surrounding tribes into subordinate relationships of offering tribute.

When they killed the English traitor John Oldham, the Massachusetts Bay Colony would respond with their own attacks, aided by these other tribes basically sick of the Pequot eventually resulting in victory over them after the attack on Mystic Village.

This one was far more limited, but the biggest conflict they would engage in would be known as King Philip's War, waged by a medicum otherwise known as King Philip.