The Wampanoags in the seventeenth century : $b An ethnohistorical surveyMarten, Catherine
History
The Wampanoags in the seventeenth century : $b An ethnohistorical survey
Marten, Catherine
Indians of North America -- New England -- History -- 17th century; Wampanoag Indians
The history of contact between primitive peoples and Europeans has
tended to be similar throughout the world, in that the first to
contact and deal with the natives were usually entrepreneurs looking
for new profits, followed by missionaries looking to save souls. The
Wampanoags likewise experienced this phenomenon. While it was the
intention of those who went there to settle to bring Christianity
to the Indians, preparations for such a monumental task were not
very well laid. English colonists had their hands full for a number
of years just getting a living. They had made no provisions for the
maintenance of missionaries to the Indians, and English congregations
were not eager to spare their own ministers for the task. Thus, it
was not until the middle of the seventeenth century at least before
systematic attempts to change the Indians’ belief system were begun.
Notable among those who took up the mission to the Indians of
southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island were Roger Williams,
John Elliot, and the Mayhews, father and son. Quite a number of
converts were made.[23] Converted Indians were encouraged to dwell
together in what came to be dubbed “praying towns”. Such Indians were
required to adopt European culture wholeheartedly in terms of dress,
housing, habits, etc., and they were required to learn to read as
part of their conversion so that they could study the scriptures. The
majority of Indians seem to have refused conversion; however, the
change on the part of some of them can hardly but have had influence
upon the rest.
Another introduction from European culture was alcohol, previously
unknown to the Wampanoags and their neighbors. This became a popular
item of trade, and some Indians undertook the cultivation of apples
for the purpose of making cider.[24]
FOOD QUEST
=Annual Cycle=: The environment of coastal southern New England was
rich in a variety of wild food resources. Because these resources
were available seasonally in several differing localities, the
Wampanoags, who lived by a combination of hunting, fishing,
collecting, and horticulture, moved several times during the year.
Beginning in about April, large numbers of Indians, probably the
populations of several localized winter camping groups, would gather
at the falls of certain rivers for the upstream runs of fish such as
herring.[25] Migratory birds were also taken at this time.[26] The
period of taking fresh water and androgynous fish along streams and
in lakes continued until planting season, when the Wampanoags moved
to the coast.
Summer was a time of gardening; it was also the time when the vast
array of marine resources was exploited. In addition, summer brought
an abundance of shore birds. Planting involved two crops, with people
sometimes moving from a house by an early field to one by a later
field in the middle of the summer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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