Your favorite Native American

This is not about a favorite American Indian, since I don't really have one. It is about the first major war between Natives and American colonists, and was fought here in New England.

King Philip's War of 1675-1676.

The two cultures� (Native and European) different ways of life and concepts of land use had caused tension for many years. A continuing problem was the trampling of Native cornfields by colonists� livestock. While colonists were legally responsible for damage, such laws were difficult to enforce in remote areas. Increased competition for resources (particularly land for planting, hunting and fishing) caused friction between the two groups. Changes in the regional economy, such as collapse in the fur trade, led many Native people to support themselves by selling their land.

Metacomet, called King Philip by the settlers, was the son of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, who had made a treaty of friendship with the Pilgrims of Plymouth. It was Philip who led the Indian forces against the colonists.

In 1675, hostilities broke out in the town of Swansea, and the war spread as far north as New Hampshire, and as far southwest as Connecticut. Not all Native people, however, sided with Philip. Most Natives who had converted to Christianity fought with the colonists or remained neutral. The colonists, however, did not always trust these converts and interned many of them in camps on outlying islands. Also, some Native communities on Cape Cod and the Islands did not participate in the war. Native soldiers fighting on the side of the colonists helped turn the tide of the war, which ended in 1676 when Philip was killed by a Wampanoag fighting with Captain Benjamin Church.

King Philip�s War was one of the bloodiest and most costly in the history of America. One in ten soldiers on both sides was injured or killed. It took many years for Plymouth and the other colonies to recover from damage to property

The outcome of King Philip�s War was devastating to the traditional way of life for Native people in New England. Hundreds of Natives who fought with Philip were sold into slavery abroad. Others, especially women and children, were forced to become servants locally. As the traditional base of existence changed due to the colonists� victory, the Wampanoag and other local Native communities had to adapt certain aspects of their culture in order to survive.

JT




Edited by jacobtowne - 12-Nov-2006 at 12:58

Crazy Horse is one of my heroes!

Pinguin, would you say they're the majority in Mexico?

Edited by Hellios - 12-Nov-2006 at 19:20

Originally posted by pinguin The figure that was really Native American is Benito Juarez. He was a lawyer and brillian politician in the "white" society, although he was a Zapotec Amerindian. Benito Juarez (1806-1872) was President of Mexico in two term 1861-63 and 1867-72, and is one of the most beloved figures of that country. He rejected the French invasion and is the only full blood indian that has governed Mexico.

Something I always wondered: Benito Ju�rez was a Zapotec indian, who didn't speak Spanish until he started learning the language aged 12, so I think we can safely assume his parents didn't speak Spanish either. However both Benito and Ju�rez are very Spanish names. How is that possible?

Originally posted by Omar al Hashim Originally posted by Paul 4 generations per century. That's 20th century 16, 19th century 256, 18th century 4000, 17th century 32,000, 16th 256,000. So every person in the Americas has around a quarter of a million great great...... grand parents since Columbus..... Can you account for the background every single one of these 256,000 ancestors for each and every single person in Mexico? Nice idea but not quite true. You see the 234 great-grandparent and the 217 are actually sisters. Also the 145 and the 109 are the same person.. etc etc. That would only work if people knew all their ancestors and specifically went out of their way to marry people they weren't in someway related to.

Edited by Paul - 12-Nov-2006 at 20:29

Edited by Hellios - 12-Nov-2006 at 20:55

Edited by Hellios - 12-Nov-2006 at 21:16

Edited by Hellios - 12-Nov-2006 at 21:36

Well considering Canada killed most native people except the ones in the most remote quarters, beggared the current day survivors, and recently voted against the UN motions that would benefit native peoples, I don't think our "record" is that good..

Anyways I wouldn't say he's my favorite but I'm gonna put in a word for Joseph Brant, since my ancestors supposedly fought under him against the Americans ;)