5/28/2023 0 Comments Pilgrims and puritans![]() ![]() Everyone in Patuxet either dies or fled the village, and they never returned. Shortly after that, the plague just starts to rip right through the Wampanoag nation. There were accounts of a French fishing ship that had wrecked off the coast of Patuxet, and of some of the fishermen coming into the village exhibiting signs of sickness, with yellowing of the skin and fever, and dying. There was a plague that ripped through the Wampanoag nation where there are estimates of over 100,000 Wampanoag dying in just three short years. In 1616, we think the village of Patuxet becomes ground zero for what became the Great Dying. ![]() You mention the Europeans brought disease with them as well. Desecrating graves would not have been against their moral code, because (to them) we were not human. It allowed them to not treat us with the same rules they would a European. They referred to the Natives as savages for a reason: it allows you to dehumanize. The Europeans also desecrated Native graves. It’s important to understand that’s how Tisquantum learns English (before being able to return to Patuxet around 1619). One of them was Tisquantum, who they take back and sell (in Europe*). For one reason or another he decided to take some of the young men as slaves. One of them was Thomas Hunt, who docked off of the village of Patuxet. In 1614, some traders came into the region. What stands out to you about those earlier interactions?Īround 1614, we really start to see a rapid shift-the tipping point-in the impact that the Europeans are having on the Wampanoag nation, in part because of slavery, but also because of disease and sickness that was brought with them as well. “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882/Pilgrim Hall Museum The Wampanoag had contact with English traders and explorers before the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620. For the centuries, the tragic story of the Wampanoag community at Patuxet has been forgotten in retellings of the Pilgrims’ arrival to the area on the Mayflower. There seemed to be an abundance of food for everyone. I have to think that it was really an idyllic setting where you lived off the land. The villages were pretty much in constant communication with each other. Beyond that, we know there was a government structure, with delegates from each village who would meet with each other, discussing issues and collectively making policies and rules that would be in the best interest of everyone. In the summer months, we lived closer to the water where food was more abundant, and then as the weather got colder, we moved inland. It’s estimated that there were upwards of a few thousand Natives per village. There were some 69 villages throughout the New England region that were part of the Wampanoag nation. What was Patuxet like before contact with Europeans? Atlas Obscura spoke with Peters about the place his ancestors called home, and how he is helping to bring its story to a wider audience. Steven Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag, has developed content about his ancestors’ story for exhibits and cultural programs, most recently Plymouth 400, a multinational collaboration examining the Pilgrims’ landing in 1620. Missing entirely from the familiar history, however, are critical details, such as how Tisquantum learned English, and why Patuxet was abandoned before the Pilgrims arrived. To show their gratitude, the European arrivals invited the Native Americans to a meal, with Patuxet-born Wampanoag Tisquantum (Squanto), who happened to speak English, serving as translator. Today, schoolchildren typically learn only that the tribe helped the Pilgrims survive their first year at Plymouth, established where Patuxet once stood. The Wampanoag called the region home for more than 12,000 years, but most history books have reduced them to a footnote. More than 400 years ago, the coastal community of Patuxet was one of dozens belonging to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, spread across much of what’s now New England. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |