#metacom

Kakashi: Tch... After you stood me up at the soda parlor I didn’t think you’d have the balls to come back, metacom... 

The creation of a new Wampum Belt by the Native American Wampanoag Nation is one of the cornerstones of the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's sailing, and it is told in this powerful new short film.

Four hundred years ago, the Wampanoag people met the people of the Mayflower when they arrived on American shores. Central to their culture was Wampum - items of huge spiritual significance made and woven onto belts with extraordinary skill.

In 1675-76, the attritional King Philip’s War waged as the colonists killed thousands of Native Americans in their last stand against the expansion into their lands in what is described as the bloodiest battle in US history.

Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, by Patricia Clark Smith. It is slightly surprising to me that they never made a Royal Diary about Pocahontas (and I wouldn’t have necessarily minded if they had), but I’m glad they chose this royal figure who is often only mentioned within the context of other people. I learned about Metacom (King Philip) in U.S. history and on Crash Course but the only time I hear about Weetamoo is in reference to Mary Rowlandson’s captivity. Smith discusses these both.

The epilogue is quite long, almost historical note long, and is very detailed in what we do know about Weetamoo and King Philip’s War.

Since Weetamoo didn’t have a written language, there is a disclaimer at the beginning and end to imagine that she’s telling her story through pictures and contemplation.

Listener’s Choice: Tchaikovsky 

Metacom

350 years ago today, several Pokanoket warriors attacked homesteads in the vicinity of Swansea, located in what was then the Plymouth Colony (now Massachusetts). This was the start of King Philip’s War, which lasted two and a half years, and ultimately finished the native tribes of New England as a dominant force in the region. We have previously written about this topic here, and about a play…

Pometacom. Metacomet. Metacom. King Phillip. His mark.

Wampanoag. His home at Pokanoket. Born 1638. A Wampanoag sachem by 1662, after his brother's suspicious death. A diplomat and strategist. Led a confederation of Eastern Woodlands tribes in a rebellion against colonizers in the First Indian War (or King Philip's War), 1675-1676. Fought to reclaim sovereignty, resist subjugation and dispossession, and for #landback.

Assassinated August 12, 1676; dismembered upon his death. Colonizers displayed his head on a spike at so-called Plymouth for over two decades. 

His kin: father Ousamequin, the Massasoit. A brother, Wamsutta. Wamsutta’s partner, Namumpum (later called Weetamoo). Pometacom’s partner, Wootonekanuske.