We Shall Remain-Episode 1

"We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower" on PBS was enlightening and a fascinating view of the American history that is often forgotten, misconstrued, or deliberately left out. The episode focused on the Wampanog, an Algonquian tribe, that lived in, what is today, New England. Specifically, the episode followed the figures of Massasoit and then his son, Phillip, as they worked through different types of diplomacy and dealings with the European settlers. The different views of these men were interesting and their methods for dealing with the views impressed upon them by the whites was even more fascinating.
Massasoit was a sachem of the Wampanog tribe and he worked throughout his life for peace and harmony with the settlers. Massasoit believed that they could share the land and live as a single entity, a tribe of sorts. He saw the settlers as allies and a group of people that could help the Wampanog in their defenses against stronger enemy tribes. Greatly depleted from several ravaging diseases, the Wampanog were desperate for alliances. Upon seeing the white settlers in the same predicament, barely surviving their first winter on American shores, they decided that the settlers were also in need of help and believed that a quick friendship and alliance would grow from their negotiations. However, there was constant tension as the settlers had been run out of Europe on account of being religious radicals. Because of their religious beliefs, the settlers saw the Native Americans as a source of corruption and temptation. The two groups did, however, manage to keep the tensions to a minimum as survival was the key importance for both. For a number of years, the settlers and the Wampanog's were able to live in peace together.

Trouble came with further colonies though. As time went on, more and more Europeans began flooding into New England and setting up their colonies. The Puritans presented the largest problem as they saw the Native Americans as heathens and obstacles on their path to trading posts and further expansion. The Puritans viewed the Native Americans as less than human and started to force their religious views on them. Praying Towns began to pop up and Native Americans began to be converted to this strict sect of Christianity. I found it fascinating that the Puritans, full of fear and guilt themselves, impressed these feelings on the Native Americans and used fear of damnation and guilt of praying to multiple gods, or even being emotionally attached to their own hair, to warrant a conversion.

Massasoit continued to try to work peacefully with the settlers. However, as the settlers began swindling land from Massasoit and the Wampanog, he began to grow frustrated and resisted their further attempts to claim his land. Massasoit began to feel that peace in the early years may have been the wrong choice and he saw that he and his people were facing an invasion of their lands, their lives, and their beliefs.

Massasoit's son, Phillip, was born after the settlers had arrived and had lived all his life in their presence. He had several European ways and even carried a European name. However, he was not an ally of the Puritans and would eventually lead a band of Wampanog in an attack on several colonies. After their first raid, other Native American tribes joined Phillip's cause and fought against the invasion of their lands and ways of life. King Phillip's War escalated and for a long time they enjoyed victory after victory. Striking fear into the hearts of the settlers, they struck anger into the hearts of the Mohawks. The Mohawks were allied with the settlers and eventually took up arms against the other Native American tribes that were under Phillip's leadership. King Phillip's War soon came to an end with Phillip on the side of defeat. He returned to his homeland that was even further claimed by settlers and there he was captured, executed, and dismembered. His head was put on a stake and kept in a Puritan colony to remind Native American tribes the risks of moving against the crown.

This was an extremely interesting show and I look forward to seeing next Monday's episode, Tecumseh's Vision.

On a side note, it was fascinating to me that they followed up this riveting and informing episode about true American history with a show that focused on Westerner's searching through their family history for ancestor's in the original colonies in the New World. One woman expressed her pride in having an ancestor who had been the only survivor of the first "Indian attack." The images were stereotypical Western views of history and the Native Americans were portrayed as the savage attackers of Puritan belief. The idea that was expressed implied that the settlers had been peaceful and had done nothing to invoke the attack upon their village. This, however, as we had learned a mere ten minutes earlier, was untrue. I found the juxtaposition of these two views of American history to be fascinating and extremely enlightening.