51.0°F Fair [Forecast] :: Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Vacation Info Wedding Info Kids/Parents NEW! Pets

Cape & Islands News

The ideal newspaper should be "irreverent, rash, feisty, and really care." - Jim Bellows

Please visit these local CapeCodToday sponsors:

Mid-Cape Home Centers
Whether you are a contractor or homeowner, Mid-Cape Home Centers and our group of businesses can meet your needs. For over 100 years, Mid-Cape Home Centers has been synonymous with service, quality and commitment to community on Cape Cod. (Dennis)

Alberto's Ristorante
Exquisite Northern Italian cuisine served in a casually elegant atmosphere. Main Street, Hyannis. (Hyannis)

An eventual winning hand for the Wampanoag

08/24/07 · 2:48 pm :: posted by CCToday

While the victors get to write the history books, the Wampanoag "Wadeing Place" in
Middleborough was a landmark in the 1600s as well as today.

The Wampanoag always had a home in Middleboro

By Jack Coleman

"We now have a home," said Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council chairman Glenn Marshall after Middleboro town meeting voters signed off on allowing a casino in their community.

"The tribe's coming home and I can't say how happy we are," Marshall added, as quoted in The Boston Globe on July 29, a day after the town meeting vote.

Had the reporters writing the story not prefaced Marshall's remarks by pointing out that Middleboro is part of the tribe's "ancestral grounds," many readers may have been baffled by Marshall's comment of the Mashpee Wampanoag "coming back home."

But to students of American history, Marshall 's observation stirred memories of two largely forgotten incidents around Middleboro that helped set the template for centuries of conflict between Native Americans and settlers of European descent.

Things get ugly after Massasoit's death during King Philip's War

For more than 50 years after the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, relations between Indians and English were peaceful, based on a treaty between Plymouth Colony and Wampanoag sachem Massasoit in 1622. With the passing of Massasoit in 1661, followed by the suspected poisoning death a year later of his son and successor, Wamsutta, Wamsutta's brother, Metacom, became the Wampanoag sachem. Metacom is remembered today by another name - King Philip.

Where Massasoit sought peace with the English, Philip grew angry at the growing presence of English settlers in New England. Twice within a decade, rumors swept through colonial towns of Wampanoag preparations for war. The second time, in 1671, colonial leaders demanded Philip appear before them in Taunton. Philip complied and surrendered dozens of weapons, a humiliation almost certain to have enraged him.

Also attending the gathering was a counselor to Philip named John Sassamon, a Harvard-educated Native American who had converted to Christianity. Within a few short years, Philip grew distrustful Sassamon, suspicious of his seeming undue familiarity with the English and changes made by Sassamon to Philip’s will. In late 1674, Philip abruptly dismissed Sassamon, who retreated to the shores of Assawompsett Pond in present-day Lakeville.

In January 1675, Sassamon traveled to Marshfield to warn English governor Josiah Winslow of Philip’s alleged preparations for war, according to Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias in their 1999 book, “King Philip’s War: The History and Legacy of America’s Forgotten Conflict.” Within days of returning home, Sassamon’s frozen body was found beneath the ice of Assawompsett Pond.

Several months later, another Christian Indian accused three Wampanoags of murdering Sassamon, including a confidante of Philip and his son. A trial followed in Plymouth , with all three men sentenced to death by hanging. On June 10, two of the men were executed. The third survived when his rope broke, only to be shot dead a month later.

“To Philip and his people, as well as many of the English, the trial was a flagrant miscarriage of justice and further proof that maintaining an amicable, respectful relationship between the natives and the English was impossible,” wrote Schultz and Tougias. “Despite some last-ditch political maneuvering on the part of both Plymouth and Rhode Island to mollify Philip, the execution of his people set in motion a war which, by June 1675, neither side could halt.”

Roughly coinciding with the executions was an incident in Middleboro that further exacerbated tensions. In “early June,” according to Schultz and Tougias, a band of Indian warriors appeared on the top of Barden Hill, within walking distance of a Wampanoag village on the shores of the Nemasket River and a half-mile from an English fort outside the center of present-day Middleboro.

Angered by the warriors’ taunts, town elders took action, wrote Thomas Weston in his 1906 book, “History of the Town of Middleboro .” Isaac Howland, a son of passengers on the Mayflower, was chosen to fire a musket toward the Indians. By fluke or skill, Howland’s shot mortally wounded one of the warriors.

According to local legend, the dying Indian grabbed hold of a boulder as he fell, emblazoning his hand print upon it: hence its name to this day – the Hand Rock. The imprint was already there, according to Weston, most likely having been chipped into the stone by human and not divine forces.

By then, the dynamic toward open hostilities was unstoppable. Indians attacked the town of Swansea on June 20, widely regarded as the war’s point of no return. On July 9, Wampanoag warriors targeted Middleboro and “all the dwelling houses and outbuildings were destroyed,” Weston wrote.

The bitter conflict lasted little longer than a year, ending with Philip’s death in August 1676. What it lacked in longevity, however, it more than compensated in carnage. To the extent King Philip’s War is remembered, it is for a dubious claim – the bloodiest conflict ever on the continent in losses as a proportion of population. Were it fought today, its death toll would number in the tens of millions.

Which is why, regardless of our opinions on casino gambling, it is not without solace that the descendants of Wampanoag warriors and colonial settlers met at town meeting in Middleboro and fought with words, not weapons, not far from the site of two incidents three centuries ago leading their ancestors toward war.

A freelance writer and blogger who lives in Plymouth, Jack Coleman attended summer camp in Middleboro and worked his first newspaper job as a reporter for The Middleboro Gazette.

No feedback yet
Blog posts and comments are entirely the thoughts and ideas of the people who write them and in no way represent the views of CapeCodToday.com, eCape, Inc., or its employees or owners.

Please visit these local CapeCodToday sponsors:

All Gift Baskets and More
Award-winning gift baskets since 1990 ideally suited for any professional or personal occasion. All baskets come in a variety of sizes and prices to fit any budget. Same day nationwide shipping. Register on our site for a drawing. Toll Free (877)880-3395

General Dentistry of Cape Cod, PC
Creating beautiful smiles is our business. We take great satisfaction in helping you maintain optimal oral health. Our practice is devoted to comprehensive and preventive patient care. Contact us for a free consultation. (Hyannis)

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR COMMENTORS & BLOGGERS: CapeCodToday now requires a one-time validation of your account email. When logging in or registering for the first time, you will be emailed a link to click that will validate your email and complete your login. The link in the email must be clicked in the same session when you are logged into the site for security purposes (i.e. retrieve the email right away and do not close your web browser).

This is a one-time-only process (or if you change the email on your account), and will help CCToday keep out the spammers. If you cannot validate your email because it is invalid, and you are a legitimate user, feel free to contact us and we will update your account to your current email.

Please Login or Register to leave a comment. There are 3,364 registered commenters!

CapeCodToday requires readers register an account with us in order to post comments. Become a trusted commenter and receive the benefits of posting instantly throughout the site. It's quick and easy!

Please note: If you are a CapeCodToday registered blogger, you can use your blogger login. Your login for the blogs is separate from your CapeCodToday main site login (if you have one).

Previous/Next posts in this blog

« What's next for the casino and Glenn Marshal?

Dan Kennedy on Peter Kenney »

About This Blog

These stories about Cape Cod and Islands are written by our staff. You are invited to comment on any story. Your opinion will appear on our front page immediately, and it will be archived and available on this site at any time at no charge by using the search element of the top of every page.
►Walter Brooks, Editor & Publisher
►Maggie Kulbokas, Editor

Last comments

CCT Blog List

Blogs with posts in the past 60 days are listed here in order of newest posts. For a list of all blogs, visit Blogs A to Z

CCT Blog Tools

Lost Password?

Become a CapeCodToday Blogger!

Are you passionate about your community? Do you blog or at least harbor thoughts of doing so?

If so, CapeCodToday.com would like to host your blog on our CapeCodToday weblog publishing platform.

Click here to find out more!

Blog Newsfeed

CapeCodToday uses standard web "newsfeeds" (RSS) to automatically update the latest blog entries in your browser or newsreader.

Use any of the links below in your newsreader or web browser to get "Cape & Islands News" postings delivered to you, or use the RSS icon in your browser's address bar.

Advertise With Us About Us Contact Us/Feedback Subscribe